Bulletin Special Supplement Bidding Farewell to Prof. and Mrs. Charles K. Kao

c rea ting an in s titu tio n tha t can riv a l the best in the w o rld . We may n o t y e t be among the top — time is needed to get there, b u t steps in the righ t d irection have been taken. O u r in te rna tiona l standing has already im p ro ve d trem endously. This has g iven me the greatest satisfaction. ■ What then do you consider to be the greatest challenge over the last nine years? □ The greatest challenge, a lm o s t an in tra c ta b le one, is to deal w ith the tra n s itio n fro m e litis t education to a p o p u la r a p p ro a c h . T h e f ir s t degree and its value is c h a n g in g , a n d t h e c h a lle n g e is to o rie n t the University in such a w a y that it can produce a gradation o f graduates w h o can serve d iffe r e n t s e c to rs o f th e community. On the one hand, we still try to get the best students and maintain the highest possible standards fo r those w h o w a n t to pursue a scho la rly career and engage in research. On the o the r ， w e need to tra in up more ind ividua ls to serve the comm un ity — the aim o f the p o p u la r approach be ing to give more young peop le the o p p o rtu n ity o f tertiary education so that they can emerge from it more co n fid e n t and competent. This challenge is b rough t about b y social changes. Jobs that used to be fille d b y secondary school students n o w require un ive rsity graduates, a lbe it no t necessarily those w ith an elitist education. H ong Kong needs better educated people and they have to be trained in the universities. A t The Chinese University, w e try to tackle the p rob lem b y in troducing a flexible c red it u n it system. It is a com p rom ise because w e have to re ly on the secondary schools to p ro v ide a certain am oun t o f education to q u a lify students fo r cred it-un it exemption. We also have to shorten students' tim e fo r adaptation to the rigours o f a u n iv e rs ity educa tion . The re su lt is a com p rom ise d degree, a lth o u g h w e can legitimately award it since the recipients have been sufficien tly equipped to perfo rm the roles expected o f th em by the community. E ffectively there w ill be more qualified peop le to serve society's needs. An interview with Prof, Charles K. Kao 15