An extensive range of sports and recreational facilities promote a healthy campus life

First introduced in 1998, the BEd(P) has undergone a detailed and comprehensive review. It was extensively revised to meet community needs, before being submitted to an international panel of experts in primary teacher education for external revalidation. Most encouragingly for us, it received unanimous support. The one-year Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Primary) and the one-year Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Technology) were also successfully revalidated.

Ronnie Lui

Learning at the chalkface

The Bachelor of Education (Honours) (Early Childhood Education) received very positive feedback during its revalidation exercise. Early childhood education is one of the Institute's strengths and we offer an exciting and innovative programme. This was reflected in the evaluation given by the international panel which revalidated the programme and noted the high degree of satisfaction and enjoyment among students. The panel also commented that the programme helped students to become agents of change in the workplace.

Collaborative degree programmes
Our degree programmes are not confined to our own campuses. In line with the recommendations of the Sutherland Report on higher education in Hong Kong, we have been working actively with local universities to develop collaborative degree programmes. This allows the best of both institutions to be drawn on to give students subject specialty and teaching skills.

	The Institute develops students into teachers able to instil a love of learning in their own students

Our first partner was the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. The first intake of students was in September 2000 for a full-time, four-year programme, the Bachelor of Science in Mathematics (Mathematics and IT Education).

As its title implies, this degree produces graduates who are qualified teachers and who have specialised in mathematics and information technology. The first year is spent wholly at the University of Science and Technology, while from the second year on, students spend part of their time at the Institute studying education-related modules. The result is an integrated programme which prepares teachers to work in secondary schools. The success of this programme has prompted the Institute and the University to start developing similar programmes for science education.