'Private universities still need to win over public'
The head of Hong Kong's newest university on Wednesday said self-financing higher-education institutions are still striving to win public recognition in the SAR. Kim Mak, who leads Saint Francis University, made the comments on RTHK's Hong Kong Today  programme, a day after the former Caritas Institute of Higher Education was officially given the upgrade by the government.  The decision takes the number of private universities in Hong Kong to four, but Mak said such institutions were not as well advanced here as they are in some other parts of the world. "The self-financing sector overseas is thriving, but in Hong Kong they started relatively late," he told RTHK's Ben Tse. "And so, I guess, we need to win public recognition and also we need a level playing field whereby the students can get equally good education opportunities." Mak said the institution had been recruiting more students every year as its programmes are geared towards serving the community in fields such as nursing, physiotherapy, and health sciences. He said the university also emphasised the character and development of its students. The institution underwent a detailed review by the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications, which concluded that it met the standard for a university. The decision was ratified at a meeting of the Executive Council on Tuesday. "We have taken the process as an opportunity for self-improvement, so we are excited and we welcome the government decision," Mak added.