Bulletin Number One 1986

from campus. Some 60% of them have to spend more than two hours daily to commute between campus and home. Over 97% of the freshmen selected their major field of study out of an interest in the subject. Over three quarters of them believed that their chosen field of study would lead to promising careers. 22.6% of the students suggested that family expectation had played a part in their choice of subjects. About 97% of the students hoped to study a subject of interest in university. Some 87% also expected a university education to assist them in perfecting their characters. About 78% of them placed the emphasis on being able to acquire an all-round education. Most of the freshmen expressed a keen interest in extracurricular activities. Some 90% suggested that they would participate in academic activities outside the formal curriculum. Close to 76% of them were interested in sports and games, while 79.2% took an interest in activities related to arts and crafts, and some 54% in Student Union activities. According to the survey, the five most preferred areas of employment are teaching (45.8%), administration/ management (38.5%), research (27.4%), social services (19.3%) and computer and data processing (15.1%). As regards the employment sectors the freshmen preferred to join upon graduation, 28.5% indicated that the civil service would be their top priority. This was followed by the business sector and the educational sector ， with 27.7% and 21.4% respectively citing them as first choices. When asked to assess their own abilities and skills, the freshmen surveyed suggested that they were adaptable, analytical, self-confident and good in communication skills in Chinese. On the other hand, they indicated deficiency in English communication skills, leadership abilities, social skills and creativity. Freshmen of the Part-time Degree Programmes Freshmen of the Part-time Degree Programmes are different from their full-time counterparts in a variety of ways. They are older, with an age range of twenty-three to forty-four years while the average age is 28.3 years. Fifty-three of the students surveyed are female, and fifty-two are male. However, 71.9% of those who entered the Business Administration Programme are male, while about two-thirds of the freshmen of the Chinese-English Programme are female. Unlike full- time students, a much larger proportion of part-time students are married (36%), of which 39.5% have one or more children. Some 65% of the freshmen had, at one time or another, attended post-secondary institutions (including the Colleges of Education), while 19% had taken courses organized by various institutions, such as the extramural courses offered by the two local Universities. It appears that a group of highly active and self-motivated learners has been enrolled. The new students come from diverse occupational sectors. Thirty-seven percent of them come from the educational sector, 22% from commerce and industry and 26% work in various Government units. Most of these students chose to enrol in a subject that relates closely to their work. 57.1% of those enrolled in the Chinese-English Programme and all those in the Music Programme are from the teaching profession. In the Social Work Programme, more than half of the students (53.6%) are in-service social workers. Those enrolled in the Business Administration Programme (81.3%) come from various fields in commerce and industry. The survey revealed that over half of the students (52.4%) had fewer than five years of working experience, while 24.8% of them had worked for over ten years. Some 44.7% of them had amonthly salary below $6,000 and 55.3% earned over $6,000 per month. The average was $6,750. As regards the financing of university education, over 80% of the students reported that the major source was their own personal income, followed by savings (10.5%). About 41% of the students surveyed live in Kowloon, 34% in the New Territories and 24.8% on Hong Kong Island. Close to half (49%) of the new students live in self-owned flats, while 27.6% live in public housing estates. Household size ranges from one person to ten persons. Slightly less than half (48.6%) of them have to spend more than two hours commuting between campus and home/office. When asked the reasons for pursuing a university education, the most popular one given was the desire to study a subject of interest (55.2%). Other r asons included the wish to earn a degree (43.8%) and the acquisition of professional knowledge during spare time (38.1%). The survey also showed that close to three quarters of the students surveyed were deeply interested in their programmes of studies (72.2%). A substantial number of the students would like to continue with their present jobs after graduation (32.4%). However, some 22% of them have not yet given any thought to this matter. Most new students of the Part-time Degree Programmes assessed themselves favourably, believing that they were adaptable (81.9%), self-confident (76.2%), analytical (67.6%), good in communication skills in Chinese (61%) and organizing ability (60%). The chief shortcoming they indicated was a lack of creativity. 14 RECENT DEVELOPMENTS