The incident at PolyU has eventually come into an end after months of unrest. Before the start of the next semester, the Department organized a student forum on January 16, 2020 to share new updates about the future development plans of RS. Nine class representatives from undergraduate and postgraduate programmes were invited to exchange their views with Chair Professor and Head, Prof. Hector Tsang, as well as the President of Hong Kong Physiotherapy Association (HKPA), Prof. Marco Pang and the Chairperson of Hong Kong Occupational Therapy Association (HKOTA), Ms Stella Cheng.
Chaired by Prof. Tsang, the forum began with a debriefing by Prof. Shamay Ng on the infrastructural planning of RS in both the short term and long term. Students were excited about the on-going renovation project and the new campus at Homantin which would allow a more flexible use of teaching space in the future.
Another focus of the forum was to discuss the regularization of the current master entry-level programmes. During the meeting, the discussants engaged in a constructive dialogue on various topics, such as the impact of regularization on graduates’ employment opportunities and development of rehabilitation industry. Prof. Marco Pang also shared international experience of hosting postgraduate entry-level programmes of OT and PT, while Ms Stella Cheng spoke about the employment projection of local allied health professionals for the next decade. The feedback from the Professional Associations and the students was positive in general.
