APRIL 1989
HONG KONG: THE FACTS
VOCATIONAL TRAINING
A developing manufacturing and financial centre such as Hong Kong requires a steady supply of trained man- power. Providing more and better opportunities for vocational training is the only effective way of meeting this demand.
With this in mind, the government in 1982 set up the Vocational Training Council (VTC). Its prime objective is to ensure that Hong Kong has the educated and trained manpower it requires as it continues to move up-market and its economy continues to diversify.
The scope is vast. Surveys in 1988 showed that about 845 000 people were working in manufacturing industries, 698 000 in wholesale/retail, import/export and restaurant/hotel trades, 231 000 in finance, insur- ance, real estate and business services, and 73 000 in construction. Increasing use of modern technology in all spheres of work means that workers need more sophisticated skills.
Vocational Training Council: The Vocational Training Council, established by the Governor under the Vocational Training Council Ordinance, has both advisory and executive functions and duties. It not only advises the government on the measures neces- sary to ensure a comprehensive system of technical education and industrial training suited to the develop- ing needs of Hong Kong but also institutes and develops schemes for training operatives, craftsmen, technicians and technologists to improve industry, commerce and services. Furthermore, the VTC establishes, operates and monitors technical institutes and industrial training centres.
The council has a membership of 18 non-government members who are leading figures in industry, com- merce and the service sector, educationists and representatives of workers, and four government officials, namely, the Secretary for Economic Services the Director of Education, the Commissioner for Labour, and the Director of Technical Education and Industrial Training who is also its Executive Director.
Training Boards/Committees: On the advice of the council, the Governor has set up 19 training boards and seven general committees to assist it.
The training boards determine manpower needs, prepare job specifications and design training pro- grammes and guidelines for trade tests for their in- dustries or commercial sectors. They cover all the major economic activities including accountancy; automobile; banking; building and civil engineering; clothing; electrical; electronics; hotel, catering and tourism; insurance; jewellery; journalism; machine shop and metal working; merchant navy; plastics; printing; shipbuilding and ship repair; textile; transport and physical distribution; and wholesale/retail and import/export trades.
The general committees are responsible for specific training areas common to more than one sector of the economy. These areas are apprenticeship and trade
testing, electronic data processing training, manage- ment and supervisory training, precision tooling training, training of technologists, translation and technical education.
Technical Institutes: There are eight technical institutes, which are operated and maintained by the VTC. They are Morrison Hill Technical Institute, Kwai Chung Technical Institute, Kwun Tong Technical Insti- tute, Haking Wong Technical Institute, Lee Wai Lee Technical Institute, Tuen Mun Technical Institute, Sha Tin Technical Institute and Chai Wan Technical Insti- tute. An academic and management structure involv- ing not only academics but also prominent members of industry and commerce is responsible for the plan- ning and organisation of academic activities in the technical institutes.
The technical institutes offer courses at two distinct levels, namely, craft or post-Secondary 3 level and technician or post-Secondary 5 level. Attendance may be either full-time, part-time day-release or part-time evening. A wide range of short courses are also run in the day time and in the evening. The main teach- ing disciplines include applied science, clothing, commerical studies, computing studies, construction, design, electrical and electronic engineering, general studies, hotel-keeping and tourism studies, indus- trial technology, marine engineering and fabrication, mechanical engineering, motor vehicle engineering, printing and textile. Many of the technician level courses are validated by the Business and Technician Education Council of the United Kingdom.
In the 1988/89 academic year, the eight technical institutes enrolled a total of about 11 300 full-time, 14 600 part-time day-release and 28 700 part-time evening students.
There is a computer centre each at the Lee Wai Lee, Tuen Mun, Sha Tin and Chai Wan Technical Institutes. Each centre serves two institutes. In addition to having terminals linked to a computer centre, every institute is also equipped with microcomputers. Equipment for the teaching of computer-aided design and draughting is also available.
All the technical institutes built before 1982 either have been or are being enlarged to upgrade their teach- ing facilities and student amenities to a level compara- ble to those of the new institutes, namely, Tuen Mun, Sha Tin and Chai Wan.
Upon full development, the eight technical insti- tutes will have places for 12 600 full-time, 20 000 part-time day-release and 32 000 part-time evening students.
Training Centres: The VTC has set up 12 indus- trial training centres in two large complexes located in Kowloon Bay and Kwai Chung to provide basic off- the-job training and up-grading training in a number of trades relating to the automobile, electrical, elec- tronics, gas, hotel, jewellery, machine shop and metal