Internal Communications

Dear Colleagues,

In recent weeks, we have seen a lot of new happy faces on our campus. As we welcome our students to the new semester, I wish to provide an update on our latest student population.

About 50,000 candidates took the Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) exams in 2023, down from over 73,000 in 2012, when the DSE exams were introduced.

Against the backdrop of the decreasing number of secondary school leavers, University Management, especially colleagues involved in student recruitment, were anxious to find out how we performed in this year's student recruitment exercise.

I am pleased to report that we achieved remarkable results again this year, as shown in the following examples:

• The number of undergraduate students admitted to HKMU via JUPAS increased by 19% in 2023 compared to that in 2022.
• There was an increase of 15% in the number of new students admitted via Senior Year Entry.
• The number of new students admitted from the mainland via the National College Entrance Examination (Gaokao) in 2023 was 2.5 times that in 2022.
• Overall, the number of new undergraduate students and new taught postgraduate students this year increased by 35% and 92%, respectively, compared to that of last year. Today, we have over 14,000 face-to-face students on campus.

While we celebrate our success in attracting students to our university, I cannot help thinking about the challenges that lie ahead, including overworked faculty and staff, congested campuses and strained facilities.

The University Management Team is working hard to address these issues. For instance, we will invest wisely and strategically in acquiring new off-campus space and adopting advanced educational technologies for teaching and learning. We will share the good news with you in due course.

Meanwhile, I urge all members of HKMU to be patient and considerate, and together, let us make sure that the quality of our educational endeavour will not be compromised.

We look forward to another productive, fulfilling and pleasurable year ahead.

Paul LAM Kwan-sing
President