Peking University, April 25, 2017:On April 12th, Way Kuo, president of City University of Hong Kong (CityU), and Lu Jian, vice president of CityU, led a delegation to Peking Univerity. Wang Jie, vice president of Peking University, met the delegation at Yingjie Exchange Centre. Two sides exchanged their ideas on topics such as academic collaboration and communication.
The book launch of Professor Kuo’s Mindware: University Presidents Talk about Education was held at Yingjie Exchange Centre, co-sponsored by College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering of PKU and the National Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control. More than 120 people, including alumni of CityU and scholars and students of PKU, attended the launch.
Wang Jie was present and gave a speech. He pointed out that PKU and CityU have been cooperating for many years and have achieved fruitful results. When President Kuo visited PKU in March 2015, the two universities reached a student exchange agreement and established a multi-layer exchange program. Every academic year, the two universities send 10 students to the other school for one semester’s study. This new book is the result of President Kuo’s years of thinking and exploration of school management and disciplinary development. Wang Jie sincerely hopes that Mr. Kuo’s book can influence more university faculties.
Wang Jie giving a welcome speech
Later, Kuo gave a keynote speech. He mentioned that the internationalization of education has become a fact and this tendency will remain strong in future. He pointed out that universities in mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong have been developing rapidly in recent years. They have reached global standard in terms of both hardware and software and have made progress in international rating, but they still lack innovative talents, “because they lack ‘mindware’. “mindware” refers to “a state of mind of educators and other people related to education, a professional spirit and culture, a behavior pattern and a thinking mode, a temperament that requires time to learn and develop.” He also noted that the shortcomings of universities in China can be overcomed through learning from other leading colleges around the world. The secrets of success of these colleges include academic atmosphere without the influence of politics, emphasis on both teaching and research, combination of study and practice, diversification, talent-oriented system, layered responsibility, peer rating, encouragement on new ideas and innovation, teaching autonomy, etc.
Kuo giving a keynote speech
Kuo’s lecture was relaxing and interesting. He elucidated the importance of “mindware” through all kinds of examples, leading people to ponder over the situation of China’s higher education.
Written by:Wang Xi
Edited by: Xu Penghang
Source: Beida News (Chinese)
