
Leaders of overseas institutions express interest in Northern Metropolis university towns and call for policy incentives to retain global talent
University leaders from over 50 top institutions across five continents visited Hong Kong for the World Class University Presidents Forum 2026, urging the government to provide affordable housing in new university towns, roll out policy incentives to retain top global talent, and define success metrics for local and international partnerships.
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Hong Kong's Northern Metropolis megaproject includes planned university towns, and more than 130 leaders from over 50 top universities across five continents visited the city for the two-day World Class University Presidents Forum 2026, hosted by Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Leaders of overseas institutions have expressed keen interest in taking part in Hong Kong's planned university towns in the Northern Metropolis megaproject and stress that while financing remains a challenge, they will collaborate on activities to help ensure projects are financially viable.
The university heads also called on the Hong Kong government to provide affordable housing in the new university towns, roll out policy incentives to retain top global talent and clearly define what success would look like for local and international partnerships.
More than 130 leaders from over 50 top universities across five continents visited the city this week for the two-day World Class University Presidents Forum 2026, hosted by Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
There are no nationally unified mandatory regulations on the autumn break for primary and secondary schools at the national level. Whether it is implemented and how to arrange it depends on local policies. Not having an autumn break does not mean it is against the rules. Social practice and research are encouraged during the spring and autumn vacations, but based on the principle of voluntariness and public welfare, it does not mean that class registration is compulsory.
Recently, primary and secondary schools in Nanjing, Chongqing, Chengdu and other places have postponed the arrival time of students to ensure students' sleep and physical and mental health. Comments pointed out that simply adjusting the timetable is not enough to solve the problem. It is necessary to simultaneously reduce the academic burden, change the concept of educational evaluation, and take into account the actual transportation needs of dual-income families.

The coach of a high school baseball team in Hualien was accused of grabbing a student's private parts during a break in a national competition on July 24. After the student shouted "Northern", he was demoted and removed from the roster for national competitions such as the Taoyuan Cup and the Black Panther Banner. After parents complained on September 14, the coach continued to work at the school and was responsible for event registration. Parents angrily criticized the school for not protecting the students but the coach. The school stated that during the investigation into the sex case, player selection was based on performance and professional evaluation by the coaching team.

Hong Kong's Primary Three pupils recorded their lowest-ever mathematics passing rate of 84.7% in the 2024 Territory-wide System Assessment, down 0.7 percentage points from the previous year, while English performance reached a record high.

The second phase of the new teaching building at Toufen Junior High School in Miaoli County has started. The total budget is 393.1668 million yuan and is expected to be completed in early 2029. The new building has 1 floor underground and 5 floors above ground, with 30 classrooms and a flag-raising assembly platform, with a total floor area of 5096.48 square meters to meet the teaching space needs of the school district as the population grows and the number of classes increases.

Zheng Qinghe, co-founder of Inventec and chairman of the Dadu Mountain Society, donated NT$100 million, earmarked for the renovation of the Tunghai University Semiconductor Building. Alumnus Li Shiqin has previously donated 30 million yuan to establish the NVIDIA B200 AI Pod computing center. In August this year, Zheng Qinghe also announced that he would invest 10 million yuan in cultivating AI talents.