Chapter 9: Vocational Education and Technical Training

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 18 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 Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (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 restructuring 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. A 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 2000-2001 academic year, 1 789 graduates were full-time, 687 part-time day and 2 451 part-time evening at higher-technician level and 5 927 full-time, 974 part-time day and 4 469 part-time evening at technician level. In November 2001, the IVE's enrolment for 2001-02 at technician and higher-technician level was 22 589 full-time, 3 233 part-time day and 18 604 part-time evening. At the craft level, the IVE continues to offer courses in various disciplines to students who have completed Secondary 3 education. The number of craft-level graduates in 2000-01 was 455 full-time, 1 863 part-time day and 950 part-time evening. The enrolment of craft-level students in the IVE in November for 2001-02 courses was 1 602 full-time, 4 619 part-time day and 3 454 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 to further education. The two courses together provide 4 420 year-one places in 2001-02.

In response to the Government's new initiative to increase the provision of post-secondary education for senior secondary school leavers from 30 per cent to 60 per cent of the relevant age groups within 10 years, the VTC has set up in 2001 a new school called the VTC School of Business and Information Systems (SBI) to run a self-financing full-time higher diploma programme offering a total of 800 places.

Furthermore, in order to support the provision of a seamless higher education for young people in Hong Kong, the VTC will be offering both full-time and part-time 'top-up' degree programmes in Hong Kong to higher diploma graduates through articulation arrangements with reputable overseas universities.

Besides offering pre-employment industrial training to new entrants to the labour market, the VTC's 18 training centres also offer upgrading training for in-service personnel at craft, technician and higher technician levels. Some 71 241 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, Chinese cuisine, electrical, jewellery, machine shop and metal working, plastics, printing and precision tooling, security services and beauty care.

A Chinese Cuisine Training Institute was officially opened in December 2000 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. The institute has commenced offering elementary trade tests and will later offer intermediate and advanced levels trade tests as well, providing the trade with an opportunity to acquire recognised professional qualifications and in the longer term improving the overall professional standards of the industry.

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 were planned for 2000-01.

Under the VTC's auspices, the mission of the Management Development Centre of Hong Kong (MDC) is to enhance managerial effectiveness. During the year, it continued to develop management learning materials and deliver training programmes to business professionals, managers and trainers in Hong Kong. In early 2000, a cyber Management Development Centre (http://www.mdchk.com) was established to offer new learning tools and experience sharing opportunities. Another key initiative of the MDC is to promote management best practices and encourage their implementation among corporations, institutes and small and medium enterprises to improve their competitiveness. The Business Start-up Centre established by the MDC provides training, business advisory service and office facilities for potential entrepreneurs who wish 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 6 858 full-time and 94 821 part-time training places for the 2001-02 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. 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 (CLITA) 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 operates two training centres to deliver both full-time and part-time courses at technician and craftsman levels. Full-time courses targeted at Form 3 and Form 5 school leavers include merchandising, pattern making, fashion design and co-ordination, information technology and practical skills training while part-time courses cater for those currently employed in the industry. In-service personnel may attend evening courses, day-time short block courses, seminars, and self-study courses to help upgrade their technical knowledge and trade skills. The authority also helps the Employees Retraining Board with retraining programmes for workers. In addition, it offers tailor-made integrated coaching for individual garment companies, catering for their particular needs. In 2000-01, around 600 full-time and 4 300 part-time students were trained by the authority.

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. In 2001-02, 1 027 of the 1 468 applications received were approved by the VTC.

Five skills centres, three run by the VTC and two by non-governmental organisations, prepare people with a disability for open employment or mainstream vocational education and technical training. In the 2001-02 training year, they planned to provide 1 251 full-time places, 482 of them residential.

An inspectorate unit advises skills centres on administration, curriculum, training methods and standards, and provides guidance on training courses for 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 79 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.