EdUHK Stops Recognising Students' Union

The Education University announced on Thursday that it will no longer recognise the institution's students' union, alleging it has problems with its management and lacks representativeness.

In an email to students and staff, the university said the union has long experienced management issues, and it has been running under a provisional executive committee for the past four years.

The institution said in 2016, the union's provisional executive committee changed its constitution without fully consulting students, leading to a drastic cut in member numbers.

Almost one-third of current full-time students at the university are not members of the union, the university said.

It added that it has decided to review the union's operations, after learning that the group is to be run under a provisional executive committee for another year, and that it's planning to amend its constitution to reduce the number of basic exco members.

"This will further weaken its representativeness... The Education University will launch a full review into the students' union's status, governance and representativeness," a statement from the institution read.

In the meantime, the university said it will stop collecting fees on behalf of the union, assume control over its office and rescind its right to manage and book university facilities.

The university said its student affairs office will offer support to affiliated societies to make sure they can operate as usual, and the finance office will look after the union's HK$9 million reserves.