In response to the use of false documents by an international student to apply for admission, Secretary for Education Christine Choi noted that the case was still under investigation and she was not in a position to disclose more information.
Nevertheless, she reiterated that integrity and honesty were the core values of Hong Kong and that all parties concerned would adopt a zero-tolerance attitude, regardless of whether the students were trustworthy or had misinformed themselves of the incident if the case was found to be substantiated.
She reminded that those students would not only face the penalty of revocation of their academic qualifications but their cases would also be referred to law enforcement agencies and they might be held criminally liable.
LegCo Member Simon Lee expressed concern that there were study agents on the Internet who claimed to be able to secure direct student admission to tertiary institutions in Hong Kong through their connections. For that, Choi clarified that the eight UGC-funded universities had never authorized any agents and have never promised that students recommended by those agents would enjoy special treatment such as priority admission or guaranteed admission.
"Universities have a stringent mechanism for declaration of interests, and the admission process is regulated by the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance, which does not allow individuals to gain admission through subsidies to the institutions," she added.
Regarding the abetment of illegal activities on the Internet, she said that institutions would clarify inaccurate information through application forms, university websites, etc., and report non-compliant content to social media platforms. "If students are in doubt, they should check with the university."
Choi further explained that the eight UGC-funded universities handle hundreds of thousands of applications each year and have stringent mechanisms to verify academic qualifications.
"For example, some universities verify academic qualifications through authoritative and recognized institutions, and some universities require the institutions concerned to submit academic qualification documents directly to them," she said, "so I believe that those institutions have already put in place measures to ensure that the information is correct."
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