A respected scholar, a famous film director and key government officials showed their support for Gateway Education (GE) courses introduced by City University of Hong Kong (CityU) at the GE Alliance launching ceremony at the recent Hong Kong Book Fair.

 

Professor Jao Tsung-I, world-renowned Chinese scholar; Ms Florence Hui Hiu-fai, Under Secretary for Home Affairs; Professor Frederick Ma Si-hang, former Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development; Mr Peter Chan Ho-sun, a prominent film director; Professor Way Kuo, CityU President; and Professor Arthur Ellis, CityU Provost, signed a poster to signal their support during the ceremony held at the CityU Press booth.

 

“CityU is using the 4-year curriculum to re-shape its undergraduate curriculum to emphasise the spirit of discovery and innovation,” said Dr Patrio Chiu Pit-ho, Education Development Officer at CityU’s Office of Education Development and Gateway Education (EDGE). “One of the most important parts of the new curriculum is the implementation of GE.”

 

GE aims to broaden students’ horizons and inspire new ways of thinking. The courses will be implemented in full in the new academic year. “The University wishes to introduce the objectives and contents of GE to the public through this event,” Dr Chiu added.

 

A number of GE course teachers, including Dr Lam Hon-wah, Associate Head of CityU’s Department of Biology and Chemistry; Mr Thung Kin-tung, an Instructor in the School of Creative Media; and Mr Kwok Kam-hung, an Instructor in the Chinese Civilisation Centre, gave talks about GE at the Fair.

 

Interdisciplinary learning is a key feature of GE. Students can broaden their horizons, lay the foundations for their future careers, and create new knowledge through a variety of innovative courses in language, arts and humanities; the study of societies, social and business organisations; and science and technology.

 

A quarter of CityU’s undergraduate curriculum is devoted to GE. Students take 30 out of 120 required credits in the new 4-year curriculum, whereas they took 21  out of the 90 required credits under the 3-year curriculum.