Time for Hong Kong to play catch-up
勿繼續自我感覺良好 滯後確鑿須急起直追
文章日期:2015年11月27日

雙語社評齊齊聽

英語 (足本收聽)

普通話 (足本收聽)

【明報專訊】RECENT YEARS have seen a downward trend in Hong Kong universities' positions in international higher education rankings. People in Hong Kong universities maintain that, as the phenomenon has to do with changes in evaluation methods, one should not attach much importance to it. However, if the organisations that compile those rankings have enough authority and credibility and if they have changed their methods in the light of actual situations, one should say the decline in Hong Kong universities' rankings evidences their failure to move with the times or the success of universities in other places in doing so. If we only want to "feel good" and pay no regard to the fact that others are pressing forward and we are falling back, we will lag further behind in the highly competitive international community. Our competitors always have the bit between their teeth. They will not "wait for Hong Kong".

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近年,本港大學在國際高等教育排名呈現報跌之勢,業界認為與評核機構改變計算方式有關,毋須太在意,云云。不過,若評審機構權威可信,改變排名計算方式並非針對香港的大學,而是因應實際情况調整,則本港大學的排名下跌,起碼反映未能與時俱進,而其他國家、地區的大學及時調整。對於這類排名,若只求自我感覺良好,罔顧已經發生的此消彼長,則在競爭激烈的國際社會將持續滯後,因為競爭對手只會一往無前,不會「等埋香港」。

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The Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings were first compiled more than 30 years ago. Indisputably, they are an invaluable source of reference. The 2015/16 THE rankings list puts the University of Hong Kong (HKU), our city's top university, in the 44th place. The university is far behind the National University of Singapore (NUS), which occupies the 26th place, and has been overtaken by Peking University, which is ranked 42nd. And in mid-September, Quacquarelli Symonds, an international higher education and human resources research company, published its world university rankings. HKU continued to move lower down the list and fell far behind not only NUS but also Nanyang Technological University, another Singaporean university. The methodologies used in the two surveys are different, but we do not believe they are designed to denigrate HKU. In other words, unwilling as we are, we have to accept the fact that Hong Kong universities are losing their edge over their global competitors and appear to be stagnating.

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《泰晤士高等教育》的全球大學排名,已經做了30多年,參考價值毋庸置疑。據最新公布的2015/16年排名榜,本港高等教育龍頭的香港大學,在全球排名第44位,被排名26位的新加坡國立大學大幅拋離,而北京大學首次超越港大,排名第42位。去月中,另一項由國際高等教育及人力資源研究機構Quacquarelli Symonds 公布的世界大學排名榜,港大排名繼續下跌,除了新加坡國立大學,新加坡南洋理工大學亦拋離港大。這兩項排名計算方式雖然不同,但是應無蓄意壓低香港的大學排名的情况;因此,無論感情上多不願意,應該接受本港的大學在國際高等教育競爭中,既有優勢逐漸消失而呈現停滯之勢。

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The situation faced by Hong Kong universities, as reflected by these rankings, is attributable to a number of factors. For example, some experts believe Singaporean universities' enviable rankings have to do with the government's attitude. The Singaporean government has allocated a lot of resources to scientific research and development at universities, providing them with the means to enrol research students. These students do not teach. They only do research, homing in on the criteria of international rankings with a view to improving their rankings. Hong Kong does not have such a policy objective. Some years ago, there was a debate about research-based and teaching-based universities. But the majority of the eight universities were worried that, if resources were allocated to a few of them, the others would become second-rate. They voiced opposition, and little came of the debate.

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排名榜反映本港大學的景况,有諸多原因,例如新加坡的大學排名亮麗,有學者認為與政府取態有關。新加坡政府在大學科研發展投放大量資源,大學有資源另聘研究生,毋須教學,對準國際排名指標專注研究工作,爭取提升排名;本港沒有這方面政策目標,年前曾就研究型或教學型大學有過討論,但是八大院校較多擔心資源集中在少數大學,其他則淪為二流大學,表態反對,討論也就不了了之。

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From higher education to its competitiveness in different aspects, Hong Kong as a whole has been stagnating or even going backward in recent years. A gloomy atmosphere has pervaded the community. Some even seem weighed down with worry because they are witnessing Hong Kong's degeneration but can do nothing about it. But Hong Kong in fact enjoys unique advantages. At its back is the mainland, which has a booming economy, and it benefits from the "One Country, Two Systems" policy. Owing to political reasons, however, Hong Kong's economy has not boomed despite those advantages. The harsh reality is that it is falling behind in the rankings. This shows it must not waste any more time. It must renew its efforts, or it will fall so far behind other places that it can never catch up with them even if it wants to.

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最近幾年,由高等教育以至各個競爭力排名,總的而言,本港都呈現停滯甚至倒退,社會瀰漫着一股鬱卒氛圍,部分人看着香港滑向沉淪之路卻無能為力,甚至顯得懷憂喪志。其實,香港得天獨厚,既背靠經濟騰飛的大陸,又有一國兩制優勢,只是基於政治原因,這些優勢未能使香港經濟飛翔;連串排名滯後的殘酷事實,揭示香港不能再蹉跎歲月,必須重新發力,否則會愈趨落後,他日將欲追無從。

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明報社評2015.10.02

Presented by lecturers of Hong Kong Community College, PolyU and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Ms CHAN, Zoe Ka-ling

Lecturer, HKCC

www.hkcc-polyu.edu.hk/staff_directory/social_communication/CHAN,_Zoe_Ka-ling-82.html

蔡維玉

香港理工大學專上學院講師

www.hkcc-polyu.edu.hk/staff_directory/social_communication/CHOI,_Wai-yuk-322.html

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