A quality-review committee has urged universities to improve their quality-assurance mechanisms for self-financed sub-degree programs.

The Joint Quality Review Committee, formed by the eight universities in Hong Kong, has been established to address the concerns over the lack of recognition for sub-degree programs in the community.

Concerns about sub-degree programs were raised, with employers complaining about standards.

The committee, which released its interim review report on five universities yesterday, said the universities have implemented proper quality-assurance mechanisms.

But the report, which did not blame any single university for mistakes, highlighted three areas for improvement.

It found noticeable differences in the quality-assurance processes of institutions.

The committee also found that some institutions tend to allocate more resources to established programs.

"It is time for the institutions to think about reallocating the resources from the well-established programs to improve the quality of the comparatively weak programs," Committee Chairman Chan Tsang-sing said.

Chan said the committee is also concerned about institutions taking in students who failed in language subjects, and it urged those institutions to strengthen remedial measures, such as providing extra tuition.

The committee suggested that the institutions set up more detailed admission procedures and guidelines.

The committee will complete the review of the remaining three universities by early 2009.

Chan said they will start reviewing the quality of individual programs offered by these universities afterward.

(HK Edition 11/21/2008 page1)