'More non-HK students welcomed but issues remain'
A proposal to double the admission quota for non-local university students has been generally welcomed by stakeholders, but they also said issues such as accommodation will need to be addressed. In his Policy Address, Chief Executive John Lee announced that public universities can admit up to 40 percent of non-local students, up from the current 20 percent, especially those from the mainland and Belt and Road countries. "This measure helps to shore up Hong Kong's status as an international higher education hub, which is good, because in recent years mainland students have taken up the bulk of the non-local student quota," said Mervyn Cheung, chairman of the Hong Kong Education Policy Concern Organisation. He added that the measure will enhance cultural diversity on local campuses, a view echoed by some mainland students. "It can create cultural diversity and provide opportunities for students from different background to interact and learn from each other. This can contribute more to classes and global learning environment," Jimmy, a mainland student and the secretary of the Polytechnic University Mainland Students Alumni, told RTHK.  But Cheung also spoke about potential problems such as accommodation. "Looking at the local capacity of absorbing the extra 20 percent of non-local students, there may be problems because at the moment for student hostels, we are already in a big deficit," he said. The CE said universities will take forward a number of hostel projects which will provide about 13,500 additional places by 2027. "These 13,000 hostel places are only intended to satisfy existing demand, but not the extra 20 percent of non-local student population that is going to come to our universities. So, I don't think existing facilities and also with the additional 13,000 hostel places would be able to cope with the extra demand," Cheung said. "We need to provide some kind of off-campus accommodation assistance to these non-local students." Jack, a mainland student studying at the University of Hong Kong, said a higher number of non-Hong Kong students at universities in the SAR could affect the prospects of their local counterparts in the long run. "Once they graduate and more non-local students choose to stay in Hong Kong, it will cause the overall number to increase, it may become more difficult for local students to find employment," he said.