STUART.LAU@SCMP.COM
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 03 January, 2016, 3:02am
UPDATED : Sunday, 03 January, 2016, 3:07am
Johannes Chan Man-mun was rejected as pro-vice-chancellor
The University of Hong Kong does not require candidates interested in the top management job for which liberal scholar Johannes Chan Man-mun was rejected last year to have a PhD, according to its new recruitment exercise.
Chan’s lack of such a qualification was put forward by his critics on the university’s ruling council as a reason for rejecting him.
The post, advertised in the SCMP’s Classified Postyesterday, comes after HKU’s council rejected Chan as pro-vice-chancellor responsible for academic staffing and resources. The decision is now being challenged in court and has been widely regarded as politically motivated to punish Chan for his ties to Occupy Central organiser Benny Tai Yiu-ting.
According to leaked recordings of a council meeting, former education minister Arthur Li Kwok-cheung – whom Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has now made chairman – allegedly criticised Chan for lacking a PhD.
“My main worry on the academic side is that he has no higher degree equal to a PhD or an MD or LLD,” said a voice apparently Li’s, referring to doctor of medicine and law. “Now you may say in law it is not necessary. Well, if it is not necessary, why is such a degree there in the first place?”
That does not seem to be an issue in the advert. In an emailed reply, Chan said: “It just reconfirms that the so-called PhD requirement is a nonsense and not the real reason for the rejection.”
The recruitment instead puts the focus on “academic leadership, outstanding communication and interpersonal skills, and sound judgment”.
“They [candidates] should also ... contribute to the leadership of a complex institution.”
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1897716/phd-not-prerequisite-replace-johannes-chan-man
