A comprehensive system of vocational education and technical training provides the economy with well-trained manpower at craft, technician and higher technician/technologist levels. Publicly funded courses are provided by the Vocational Training Council (VTC) (see Vocational Training Council below) at nine campuses of the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (IVE) and 20 training centres. Separate levy-funded authorities provide industrial training for the clothing and construction industries.

Vocational education at higher technician and technician levels is provided by nine campuses of the IVE of the VTC. Courses are grouped under nine disciplines — Applied Science, Business Administration, Child Care, Computing and Mathematics, Construction, Design/Printing/Textile and Clothing, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Hotel, Service and Tourism Studies, and Mechanical, Manufacturing and Industrial Engineering.

After a major restructure of IVE courses, new modularised courses are offered from 1999-2000. Many Diploma and Higher Diploma courses have been put into subject groups and share a common year-one curriculum. Diploma and Higher Diploma are awarded after two and three years of full-time post-Secondary 5 study respectively. Part-time courses are modularised on a 2 + 2 + 2 years structure for the award of Certificate, Higher Certificate and Higher Diploma respectively. In the 1999-2000 academic year, 1 712 graduates were full-time, 598 part-time day and 2 349 part-time evening at higher-technician level and 5 746 full-time, 1 324 part-time day and 3 552 part-time evening at technician level. In November, the IVE's enrolment at technician and higher-technician level was 20 302 full-time, 3 829 part-time day and 18 791 part-time evening. At the craft level, the IVE continues to offer courses in the various disciplines to students who have completed Secondary 3 education. The number of craft-level graduates in 1999-2000 was 509 full-time, 2 472 part-time day and 1 625 part-time evening. The enrolment of craft-level students in the IVE in November for 2000-01 courses was 1 977 full-time, 5 245 part-time day and 3 590 part-time evening.

The VTC continues to run the Foundation Diploma and the Certificate in Vocational Studies, for Secondary 5 and Secondary 3 school leavers respectively. Both courses place special emphasis on language and communication, numeracy and IT application, with a view to enhancing the employability of graduates, as well as providing them with an alternative route for further education. The two courses together provide 4 220 training places in 2000-01.

Besides offering pre-employment industrial training to new entrants to the labour market, the VTC's 20 training centres also offer upgrading training for in-service personnel at craft, technician and higher technician levels. Some 66 300 full-time and part-time places were available during the year for both school leavers and people in employment. Trade tests were offered to workers in a range of trades — automobile, building and civil engineering, electrical, jewellery, machine shop and metal working, plastics, printing and precision tooling.

A Chinese Cuisine Training Institute was officially opened in December under the guidance of a newly appointed training board. The VTC is responsible for the management and operation of the institute. The institute aims to provide systematic training in the preparation of Chinese cuisine for both new entrants to the industry and in-service personnel. Trade tests will be offered to in-service personnel, providing them with an opportunity to acquire recognised professional qualifications and in the longer term improve the overall professional standards of the industry.

During the year, the VTC began to implement a $176 million three-year strategy to enhance its Information Technology (IT) infrastructure and services. The VTC's Information Technology Training and Development Centre continues to provide IT training for new entrants and upgrading training for IT professionals. The centre also participated in an IT Assistant Training (ITAT) Programme that provided essential IT skills training for young school leavers and the unemployed with a view to enhancing their competitiveness in the job market as well as meeting the large market demand for trained people at the junior level to perform basic IT and e-commerce-related tasks. The pilot courses of the ITAT Programme offering 300 places were conducted in early 2000. In the light of the satisfactory response and job placement, 1 000 places are planned for 2000 - 01.

Under the VTC's auspices, the mission of the Management Development Centre of Hong Kong is to enhance managerial effectiveness. During the year, it continued to develop management learning materials, deliver training programmes to managers and trainers and promote management training and development to thousands of organisations. In early 2000, a cyber Management Development Centre (http://www.mdchk.com) was established to offer new learning and experience-sharing opportunities. The Business Start-up Centre established under the then Industry Department's Services Support Fund provided training, business advisory service and office facilities for hundreds of entrepreneurs wishing to start business in Hong Kong.

The Construction Industry Training Authority, established in 1975, operates three construction training centres plus a management training centre, a trade testing centre and a safety training centre, offering a total of 7 899 full-time and 82 637 part-time training places for the 2000-01 training year. Full-time courses are offered to train up craftsman operators and technicians in the construction field; and part-time courses for the continuing education of in-service construction personnel. The authority also conducts certification tests for operators of construction plants, and offers trade tests and intermediate trade tests for construction workers with a view to enhancing site safety and workmanship, respectively. The authority is funded by a levy of 0.4 per cent on the value of all construction works exceeding $1 million.

The Clothing Industry Training Authority was established in 1975 to provide training courses for the clothing and footwear industries. It is financed by a levy of 0.03 per cent on the Free on Board value of clothing and footwear items produced in and exported from Hong Kong. It has two training centres to offer various training programmes to youngsters and those currently serving in the industries. In addition, in-house training programmes are tailor-made for individual manufacturers to help the transfer of technical know-how. It also helps the Employees Retraining Board with retraining programmes for displaced workers. In 2000, 5 486 people were trained at technician, craftsman and operative levels on a full-time and a part-time basis.

The New Technologies Training Scheme administered by the VTC aims to facilitate the adoption of new technologies beneficial to Hong Kong industry and commerce. Grants are provided to help companies send their employees to acquire skills in new technologies. The training grant can be up to 75 per cent of the training cost. Eligible training programmes consist of local training courses, overseas training courses, work attachments and tailor-made training courses for individual companies. During the year, the VTC approved 933 of the 1 180 applications received.

Five skills centres, three run by the VTC and two by NGOs, prepare people with a disability for open employment or mainstream vocational education and technical training. In the 2000-01 training year, they planned to provide 1 157 full-time places, of which 468 are residential.

An inspectorate unit advises skills centres on administration, curriculum, training methods and standards, and provides guidance on training courses to students with a disability. The unit works closely with the Labour Department's Selective Placement Service to ensure that training matches the demands of the local employment market demand. Some 78 per cent of people with a disability completing full-time courses in skills centres entered open employment or enrolled in further courses in mainstream vocational education during the year.