International scholars discuss innovation in higher education amid pandemic at LU Conference for Higher Education Research

Lingnan University hosted the annual Conference for Higher Education Research (CHER) 2020 on 13 and 14 November, offering the education sector a chance to take stock of the valuable lessons that have already been learned, and propose ways forward into a radically different, post-COVID future.

 

Organised by LU School of Graduate Studies, Institute of Policy Studies and the Asia Pacific Higher Education Research Partnership in collaboration with the UK’s University of Bath and Durham University, the theme of this year’s conference was Innovations of Higher Education Amid the Pandemic: Institutional Management, Teaching, and Research Perspectives. Ninety distinguished speakers from 13 countries and regions discussed their ideas and analysis with both in-person and online audiences.


The two-day event was initiated by Carlson Tong Ka-shing, Chairman of Hong Kong’s University Grants Committee, followed by a dialogue session featuring Joseph Luc Ngai, Managing Partner, McKinsey’s Greater China Office; John Tsang, Former HKSAR Financial Secretary; Prof Anthony Cheung, Chairman of the Government’s Committee on Self-Financing Post-Secondary Education; Prof Wong Yuk-shan, President of the Open University of Hong Kong; Prof Leonard K Cheng, LU President and Kenn Ross, Managing Director of Asia, Minerva.

CHER Conference

The first morning of the Conference also features the ceremony launching Lingnan’s new Institute of Policy Studies. From left: Prof Joshua Mok Ka-ho, Prof Anthony Cheung, Prof Wong Yuk-shan and Prof Leonard K Cheng. 

 

In addition, there were five keynote speeches delivered by renowned international scholars Prof Andrea Abbas, Professor of Sociology of Higher Education, University of Bath, UK; Prof Angela Hou Yung-chi, Professor of Education, National Chengchi University, Taiwan; Prof Joshua Mok Ka-ho, Vice-President, and Lam Man Tsan, Chair Professor of Comparative Policy, Lingnan University; Prof Susan Robertson, Professor of Education, University of Cambridge, UK; and Prof Jandhyala BG Tilak, Former Professor and Vice Chancellor, National University of Educational Planning of Administration, India.

   CHER Conference

Prof Leonard K Cheng chairs the dialogue session which addresses the impacts of COVID-19 on education.