The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) yesterday (June 1) received a donation of $100 million – the largest personal contribution ever received by the Institution – from the Li Ka-shing Foundation to support its further development.
At a commemorative ceremony held on the PolyU campus, Dr. Li Ka-shing, Chairman of the Li Ka-shing Foundation, presented a donation cheque of $100 million to Dr. Sir Gordon Wu, PolyU Council Chairman, and Prof. Poon Chung-kwong, PolyU President.
Speaking at the ceremony, Sir Gordon said the Institution is both honoured and proud to have been selected as one of the major recipients of Dr. Li’s benefaction. He said: “PolyU needs the support of community leaders like Dr. Li to help realize its mission of serving the community.”
Dr. Li said: “PolyU has a distinct objective of meeting society’s requirements for skilled and professional manpower who can apply their knowledge in practice. Nearly 180,000 PolyU graduates are now contributing members to our community. In addition, PolyU has been very successful in promoting the development of local industry and commerce by helping them meet the new paradigm of a new economy.”
Dr. Li said he was very impressed by Prof. Poon’s outstanding leadership, and by the boundless energy exhibited by PolyU students and teachers in their quest for excellence. He said the donation was made to help PolyU achieve “academic excellence in a professional context” and “dedicated partnerships with business and industry.”
“I love Hong Kong, and I sincerely hope that I can contribute to the further development of education in Hong Kong so that all learners can realize their full potential,” Dr. Li added.
Prof. Poon said Dr. Li’s generous donation in the name of the Li Ka Shing Foundation will contribute most significantly to the long-term development of the Institution, and facilitate the further advancement of its professional and continuing education activities as well as services to business and industry.
He said: “Over the years our efforts to promote lifelong education have proved to be very fruitful. We have set up the School of Professional Education and Executive Education (SPEED) to provide members of our society with ample opportunity to acquire new skills and broaden their knowledge.”
“To support the continuous development of the industrial and business sectors, and enhance their competitiveness in the international market, we have also established the Institute for Enterprise (IfE) to provide a wide range of services, including mid-stream applied technology research, professional consultancy, and management and executive development,” he added.
PolyU’s professional and continuing education courses are extremely popular among the workforce. Through SPEED and various training units under IfE, including the Management and Executive Development Centre, China Business Centre, and Centre of Professional and Business English, PolyU has offered a total of 1,170 courses for 26,144 mature learners in 1998/99.
In addition, part-time programmes offered by PolyU are in great demand among mature learners. In 1999/2000, the Institution received a total of 10.247 applications competing for 1,845 places of part-time degree programmes.
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