Bridging Courses help officers acquire higher
qualifications
Since January 2006, Recruit Police Constables (RPC) have been awarded the Certificate in Law Enforcement and Security Management (LESM) by the Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK), upon completion of their foundation training. In March 2007, the OUHK started offering a bridging course for officers who completed the RPC Foundation Training Course before January 2006 to obtain the same qualification and help them pursue further education.
Sergeant (SGT) So Hin-kwai from Marine Regional Command and Control Centre has completed the bridging course and is pursuing further studies at the OUHK. With his Certificate in LESM, he has been granted 30-credit exemption for further part-time studies with the OUHK for higher qualifications in the same subject, e.g. diploma, higher diploma and even Bachelor of Social Sciences with Honours (B.Soc.Sc (Hons)) in LESM.
SGT So noted: "The bridging course is very useful for my day-to-day jobs. I have learned how to view social issues from different perspectives, and got a better understanding of the roles of police in society. The bridging course also helps me know more about the psychology of the people I often come across at work, such as victims and suspects, and enhance my ability to provide quality services to the public."
SGT So plans to acquire a bachelor's degree from the OUHK in three years' time. He has completed a 20-credit subject in LESM and is confident of achieving his goal in 2013.
New bridging course
OUHK lecturer, Ms Hesta Ho, told OffBeat that apart from offering bridging course to junior officers, OUHK would start offering a new bridging course for inspectorate officers and above in October this year. Since November 2008, Probationary Inspectors (PI) have been granted credit-exemption by the OUHK upon completion of their foundation training. To help those who joined the PI Foundation Training Course before November 2008 get the same credit-exemption as the current PIs do, the OUHK has designed a new bridging course for these officers. Upon completion of the new bridging course, officers will be granted 80 credits in total for them to pursue the OUHK's B.Soc.Sc (Hons) in LESM, provided that they have two years of working experience after passing the Standard II Inspectorate Professional Examinations. Ms Ho added that the B.Soc.Sc (Hons) in LESM is a qualification recognised by the HKSAR Government, which is useful for pursuing career development and further studies.
According to Ms Ho, the new bridging course consists of two modules, namely "Psychology in Policing" and "Social Studies in Policing", both of which have been incorporated into the PI Foundation Training Course since November 2008. Each module will last for 20 weeks, with three hours of lecture every week and three hours of tutorial every other week. Officers who have graduated from this bridging course and continue to pursue B.Soc.Sc (Hons) in LESM will be given subsidies by the OUHK. They can get a 10 percent reimbursement of all course fees, including those paid for the OUHK bridging course upon completion of the bachelor programme.
Senior Inspector Lok Chun-wah from the Police College, who graduated from the bachelor course in 2007, added: "The OUHK bachelor course provided opportunities for me to meet classmates from other disciplinary forces and private security companies. Sharing ideas and views with them helped me broaden my horizons."
Woman Senior Inspector (WSIP) Lai Wai-yin, who graduated with the B.Soc.Sc (Hons) in LESM in 2008, noted: "OUHK lecturers helped me a lot with the integration of academic theories and police work. What I learned from the course has greatly enhanced my performance at work."
WSIP Lai considers the bachelor course very useful as it has equipped her with the ability to analyse social issues faced by the police at a macro level, enabling her to understand better the rationale behind many police operations. She said that as the B.Soc.Sc (Hons) in LESM is a recognised degree in Hong Kong, she was able to further pursue a postgraduate programme - Master of Social Sciences in Criminology - offered by the University of Hong Kong. And she successfully completed the master course in June this year.
Enrolment starts
The OUHK is now accepting enrolment applications for the bridging courses for Junior Police Officers and inspectorate officers and above. Both bridging courses will commence next month. Those interested may contact the university's Admissions Office on 2768-6601, or Mr Chan Wing-lun of the School of Arts and Social Sciences on 2768-6848 or wwlchan@ouhk.edu.hk for details.
The Force Library has a complete set of course materials for the LESM programmes for officers to browse over.
OUHK
lecturer,
Ms Ho (right), WSIP Lai and SIP Lok agree that the bridging
courses better equip officers for their day-to-day jobs