HONG KONG (AsiaNews): The approval of a Catholic university in Hong Kong is close to receiving official approval according to the Headline Daily, a Chinese-language newspaper.
The Caritas Institute of Higher Education, in Tseung Kwan O, a post-secondary college with a strong nursing programme, has been given the green light by the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications.
The council is tasked with academic and vocational accreditation, education and training and quality assurance, which allows educational establishments to be upgraded to university status.
For the Institute of Higher Education the last, hurdle is the formal approval by the government under chief executive, John Lee Ka-chiu. Should this happen, Hong Kong will have a third private university after the Hong Kong Shue Yan University and the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong.
Back in the 1970s, then Bishop Francis Hsu had pushed for a Catholic university. Today, along with the Caritas Bianchi College of Careers, the Institute of Higher Education offers post-secondary programmes in 35 different disciplines, ranging from social sciences to technologies and economics with about 2,500 students.
Cardinal Stephen Chow, SJ, had actively promoted the idea of a Catholic university when he was the local superior of the Jesuits, before he became bishop.
The initial idea was to build an entirely new university in Fanling, close to the border with the Mainland, but the authorities rejected it for urban planning reasons.
Once he became bishop, Cardinal Chow revived the project by suggesting that the Institute of Higher Education be turned into a university.
