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The founding of Northcote College of Education was originated from the 1935 Report on Education in Hong Kong and a recommendation laid in 1938 by a Committee on the training of teachers. In 1935, an Inspector of Schools, Edmund Burney, visited Hong Kong and made an enquiry into the local education system. His Report on Education in Hong Kong, also known as the Burney Report, criticised several aspects of Hong Kong's educational policy such as the neglect of primary education and the inadequate training in Vernacular schools in which Chinese was the medium of instruction. One of the recommendations raised at the time, was that it might be necessary to have a new Government Normal School, or considerable additions to the existing premises of the Technical Institute for the training of teachers. In 1938, the Governor, Sir Geoffry Northcote, took up this endeavour in the improvement of teachers' training further by appointing a Committee to review the training of teachers for both English and Vernacular schools. The key recommendation of the Committee was that the Government should act immediately in the provision of a teacher training centre for the training of male and female teachers for both Anglo-Chinese and Vernacular schools - as a result the Teachers Training College was opened on 18 September 1939. The College was housed temporarily in the former Medical Officer's quarters at the old Government Civil Hospital at Hospital Road. It offered a two-year course and had two classes: an Anglo-Chinese class taught in the medium of English and a vernacular class taught in Cantonese. In its first year of operation, each class had 24 students including 12 male students and 12 female students.

The new building of the Teachers Training College at Bonham Road was officially opened on 23 April 1941 by the Governor, Sir Geoffry Northcote, and since then the College became known as the Northcote Training College. The College, however, was forced to close in December the same year because of the Japanese invasion. The Bonham Road building was initially used as the headquarters of the Japanese Military Police but was later mutilated by looters with all of its fittings and equipment removed during the war. Despite of great difficulties in replacing the equipment, the College reopened soon after the war on 13 March 1946.

In order to meet the demand for more trained teachers for the rapidly increasing school population, the College expanded greatly and moved yet again to new premises at Sassoon Road in April 1962, and was officially opened by the Governor, Sir Robert Black, on 31 May 1962. This new premise consisted of a hostel which could accommodate half the full-time enrolment. The vacated Bonham Road building was then used by the United College of The Chinese University of Hong Kong until it moved to Shatin in December 1971, and after considerable renovation reverted to College use and served as an annexe to the College in December 1973. On 18 October 1967, the three government Training Colleges including Northcote Training College, Grantham Training College and Sir Robert Black Training College, were renamed Colleges of Education. The former title, Training College, implied that the function of the colleges was merely to impart basic skills. The three colleges by then, had a much wider function and scope on the further education of students with the introduction of new full-time courses and the discontinuance of one-year courses. A range of student interests and activities were being broadened and subjects were also being studied to a higher level. In consideration of all these developments, Northcote Training College changed its name to Northcote College of Education.

Pursuant to the recommendation of the Education Commission Report No. 5, the Hong Kong Institute of Education ("HKIEd") was formally established on 25 April 1994. Meanwhile, Northcote College of Education, Grantham College of Education, Sir Robert Black College of Education, the Hong Kong Technical Teachers' College and the Institute of Language in Education, the five institutions which were to be amalgamated into the HKIEd, continued their part in delivering teacher education programmes until the end of their last academic year. On 1 September 1994, HKIEd formally took over the administration of the five institutions from the Education Department and amalgamated them into a new, unified autonomous institution; on the same day the campuses and annexes of the five institutions were converted into campuses of the HKIEd until the Tai Po campus was completed in October 1997.

The Institute of Language in Education ("ILE") was established to raise the professional standards of the teaching and learning of Chinese and English as subjects, and the use of these languages for teaching and learning across the curriculum. It began operation in September 1982 in Park-In Commercial Centre at Dundas Street, Mongkok. The ILE was a Division of the Education Department. The Director of ILE was an Assistant Director of Education directly responsible to the Senior Assistant Director of Services and Institutions. All staff members of the ILE were members of the Education Department and civil servants of the Hong Kong Government.

In February 1991, the ILE moved from Dundas Street, Mongkok, to premises at 2 Hospital Road on Hong Kong Island, which were two converted secondary schools, Yu To Sang Memorial Secondary School and Helen Liang Memorial Secondary School, linked physically by two bridges. The new premises were officially opened by the then Director of Education, Mr. Li Yuet-ting on 12 April 1991.

Over the years the range of courses and the number of staff at the ILE have consistently diversified and grown. In the first academic year, the ILE only offered courses for non-graduate Primary teachers of Chines and English with a staff of 24. By 1994, the ILE had been running courses for Primary teachers of Chinese and English, Secondary teachers (both graduate and non-graduate) of Chinese and English, Panel Chairpersons of Chinese and English, Primary and Secondary teachers and would-be teachers of Putonghua, and Secondary teachers of subjects other than Chinese or English but who use one or other of these languages as medium of instruction. The number of staff had also increased to 108.

On 1 September 1994, the ILE was amalgamated with Northcote College of Education, Grantham College of Education, Sir Robert Black College of Education, and the Hong Kong Technical Teachers' College into the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd), pursuant to the recommendation of the Education Commission Report No.5. Its premises at 2 Hospital Road were converted to Bonham Campus of the HKIEd and remained in use until the completion of the purpose-built campus in Tai Po in October 1997.

The Human Resources Office ("HRO") at The Education University of Hong Kong ("EdUHK") is committed to supporting the University’s vision of becoming a leader in education and research in the Asia-Pacific region. Aligned with EdUHK’s strategic goals, the HRO focuses on fostering a high-performing workforce that contributes to the institution’s excellence in academic and administrative areas.

In September 2002, the Human Resources Department was renamed the Human Resources Office, and its reporting line shifted to the Vice President (Resources and Administrative Services). Since September 2004, the HRO has been under the supervision of the Vice President (Administration), a structure that remains in place to this day.

From September 1994 to August 1998, the Human Resources Department operated under the supervision of the Associate Director (Administration). Between September 1998 and August 2000, it remained as the Human Resources Department but was placed under the Associate Director (Resources and Administrative Services). From September 2000 to August 2002, the department continued under the same title and reported to the Deputy Director (Resources and Administrative Services).

The Hong Kong Museum of Education was established in May 2009. It acquires, conserves, preserves, researches and exhibits materials related to the history, culture and development of education in Hong Kong.

The Grantham Training College was founded in September 1951 to focus on the training of primary school teachers. The College operated in the King’s College campus at Bonham Road for one year, and then moved to the Gascoigne Road premises. At that time, only 61 places were available. After completing the one-year full-time program, students could obtain a Teacher Certificate.

In 1953, the College's enrollment increased to 150 students, including 25 boarding students from the Rural Training College (a sister institution that later merged with the Grantham Training College).

In 1960, to cope with the ever-increasing needs for teacher training, the Government further established a third college in the site of the Lo Fu Ngam Primary School as an extension of Grantham. One year later, the new college became independent and was renamed Sir Robert Black Training College.

The Grantham Training College was renamed Grantham College of Education in 1967. By 1982, Grantham obtained an annexe – a commercial building in Mongkok. Following the recommendation by the Education Commission in its Report No. 5 (1992) and the passage of the Hong Kong Institute of Education Ordinance through the Legislative Council of Hong Kong in March 1994, five pre-existing teacher education institutions including Grantham College of Education were merged to form the Hong Kong Institute of Education on 25 April 1994. The College’s two campuses at Gascoigne Road and Argyle Centre, known as Grantham Campus I and Grantham Campus II, remained in use until the Institute moved to its new Tai Po Campus in October 1997. However, the former Grantham Campus I in Gascoigne Road was the only building retained for use as the Institute’s Town Centre, where courses for part-time students and practising teachers were operated due to its convenient location.

From 2005, the School of Early Childhood Education was renamed the Faculty of Professional and Early Childhood Education ("FPECE"). This change followed Hong Kong Institute of Education ("HKIEd")’s achievement of self-accrediting university status in 2004 and the implementation of a new academic structure in September 2005, which consolidated four existing Schools into two Faculties: the Faculty of Languages, Arts and Sciences ("FLAS"), and the Faculty of Professional and Early Childhood Education ("FPECE").

The newly formed FPECE comprised one academic office and four academic departments, including
(1) Programme Office: Early Childhood and Special Education Programmes,
(2) Department of Curriculum and Instruction,
(3) Department of Early Childhood Education,
(4) Department of Educational Policy and Administration, and
(5) Department of Educational Psychology, Counselling and Learning Needs

Having successfully achieved self-accrediting university status in 2004, the Hong Kong Institute of Education phased in a new academic structure in September 2005 by merging four existing Schools into two Faculties: the Faculty of Languages, Arts and Sciences ("FLAS"), and the Faculty of Professional and Early Childhood Education ("FPECE"). FLAS comprised of the Departments of Creative Arts and Physical Education; Chinese; English; and Mathematics, Science, Social Sciences and Technology; whereas FPECE was composed of the Departments of Curriculum and Instruction; Early Childhood Education; Educational Policy and Administration; and Educational Psychology, Counseling and Learning Needs.

The Institute took further actions in enhancing its academic and research capacities following the submission of the Development Blueprint in 2007. Apart from creating the new position of Vice President (Research and Development) and implementing strategic recruitment and appointment exercises, a new academic structure which reorganized the two Faculties into a three-Faculty structure was launched on 25 August 2008. The five academic departments initially under FPECE came under the Faculty of Education Studies; whereas the newly created Faculty of Languages took over both the Department of Chinese and Department of English, and the restructured Faculty of Arts and Sciences housing the Department of Creative Arts and Physical Education as well as the Department of Mathematics, Science, Social Sciences and Technology. And from 1 September 2009, the two Departments under the Faculty of Arts and Sciences were reorganised into the Departments of Cultural and Creative Arts; Health and Physical Education; Mathematics and Information Technology; Science and Environmental Studies; and Social Sciences.

To reflect the strategic growth in research capacity and teaching expertise in liberal arts and social sciences in relation to the Institute's re-submission for the re-titling exercise, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences was renamed the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences with effect from 1 September 2012. The Faculty is currently housing four Departments: the Department of Health and Physical Education, the Department of Mathematics and Information Technology, the Department of Science and Environmental Studies, and the Department of Social Sciences and Policy Studies.

The Faculty of Languages, Arts and Sciences ("FLAS") was one of the two Faculties created to replace the four Schools in September 2005, after the Hong Kong Institute of Education successfully achieved the self-accrediting university status in the year before. FLAS aimed at preparing its students to become professionals with strong disciplinary and educational knowledge to facilitate effective learning; and offered a total of 19 undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in primary and secondary education, 11 in-service teacher education programmes supported by government funds, language immersion programmes, exchange programmes and study tours. FLAS was composed of five Departments and a Centre: the Department of Chinese, the Department of Creative Arts and Physical Education, the Department of English, the Department of Mathematics, Science, Social Sciences and Technology, and the Centre for Citizenship Education.

The Institute took further actions in enhancing its academic and research capacities following the submission of the Development Blueprint in 2007. Apart from creating the new position of Vice President (Research and Development) and implementing strategic recruitment and appointment exercises, FLAS and the Faculty of Professional and Early Childhood Education were reorganized into a three-Faculty structure on 25 August 2008. The five academic departments initially under FPECE came under the Faculty of Education Studies; whereas the newly created Faculty of Languages took over both the Department of Chinese and Department of English, and the restructured Faculty of Arts and Sciences housing the Department of Creative Arts and Physical Education as well as the Department of Mathematics, Science, Social Sciences and Technology.