Vice-Chancellor's Report 1987-90

Vice-Chancellor's Report Student Admission Figures Undergraduate student admission has increased steadily from 1,734 in 1987-88 to 2,045 in 1989-90. Of those admitted in the past three years, the proportion of female students was greater in the Faculties of Arts, Business Administration and Social Science. The reverse pattern, however, dominated the Faculties of Science and Medicine. Despite such faculty differences, the overall numbers of the male and female students admitted from 1987-88 to 1989-90 were very close - 1 , 046 males and 999 females in 1989-90. As the government has plans to expand the tertiary education sector in the coming years, annual student intake is expected to rise rather significantly in both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Extramural Courses Figures show that the number of courses offered by the Department of Extramural Studies has increased from 1,697 in 1987-88 to 2,007 in 1989-90, covering a wide range of topics of interest to the general public. Each year an average of 54,000 students from different walks of life benefited from such courses. The gradual increase in enrolment figures for language and certificate/ diploma courses reflects the new demands of society in recent years. More courses in these areas have therefore been organized. Degrees and Diplomas Awarded Each year the University confers a great variety of degrees and diplomas. Surveys on the destinations of holders of such degrees and diplomas in the past three years show that education and commerce & industry were still the two major occupational sectors that absorbed most of our graduates. Graduates from this University also served our society in other capacities such as civil servants and employees of public utilities and public and social service organizations. Exchange Programmes & Hostel Places Exchange programmes with overseas universities have been arranged by both the University and its constituent colleges to broaden the horizons of our students and to enrich campus life. Statistics show an increase in the number of such programmes from eight in 1987-88 to 11 in 1989-90 and the number of outgoing exchange students from 25 in 1987-88 to 38 in 1989-90. Hostel places for full-time undergraduates were still in short supply during the period. With the completion in 1989 of a new hostel for Shaw College, the University managed to provide hostel places for slightly over 50 per cent of its undergraduates in 1989-90. Before 1987 the Postgraduate Hall Complex was able to provide accommodation to over 80 per 23