How university-based Adult Continuing Education organisations have responded to Hong Kong's changing educational needs since the 1997 transfer of sovereignty

Abstract

Since Hong Kong’s sovereignty reverted to China in 1997, the university Adult and Continuing Education (ACE) sector has faced an array of unprecedented challenges created mainly through government policy initiatives, an associated and rapid increase in the demand for continuing education, and dramatic changes in the nature of that demand. This paper reports the outcomes of a qualitative study that examined how the sector responded to these challenges. It identifies and describes a triangle of inter‐related strategies of response, namely ‘building organisational strength’, ‘programme planning and development’ and ‘quality assurance’.