EDUCATION
design and drafting facilities have been installed in the technical institutes. These enable the study of computer appreciation and application to be included in most courses.
The annual employment survey of graduates from full-time courses again showed that they had little difficulty in finding employment in their respective disciplines after com- pletion of their studies.
To meet the increasing demand for study places, additional accommodation and facil- ities were provided in the new annexes of the Kwai Chung, Kwun Tong and Morrison Hill Technical Institutes.
Industrial Training
Industrial Training is promoted and co-ordinated by the Vocational Training Council.
The council administers and operates a number of industry-wide training schemes for the major industries and assists individual employers in setting up or improving their own staff training schemes. Young persons wishing to obtain organised training may also approach the council for assistance.
In 1989, the Vocational Training Council operated 16 training centres for training manpower for the automobile, banking, electrical, electronic data processing, electronics, gas, hotel, insurance, jewellery, machine shop and metal working, plastics, precision tooling, printing, shipping, textile and welding industries. Together, the centres provide off-the-job basic or updating training for over 21 000 trainees a year on a full-time or part-time basis, at skill levels ranging from the operative to the technologist. The council was in the process of setting up a training centre for the wholesale/retail and import/ export trades.
The Engineering Graduate Training Scheme aims at bringing about adequate practical training opportunities for engineering graduates and engineering students in sandwich. courses to enable them to complete their overall training as engineers and satisfy the training requirements of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers as well as other recognised institutions for professional status. In 1989, 90 engineering firms took part in the scheme and provided 240 training places.
Since May 1987, the council has been administering an experimental scheme on behalf of the Industry Department for the training of engineers in the design of Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC). The scheme involves the provision of a government grant to assist employers to train local engineers in overseas facilities in the field of ASIC design. The scheme ended in March 1989 and a total of 32 engineers have received overseas training.
The Management Development Centre of Hong Kong is responsible for research, development, co-ordination and promotion of management training. Its programmes and projects include work with owner-managers and entrepreneurial firms, the creation of learning materials, and activities with management teachers, trainers and business executives.
Technicians and craftsmen in the industrial sectors and supervisory and clerical personnel in the commerical sectors are effectively trained through apprenticeship schemes and traineeship schemes. To upgrade or update the workforce, the training boards organised subsidised training courses for in-service workers in conjunction with education and training institutions. Participants in these courses were refunded about 50 per cent of the course fee by the council upon satisfactory completion of the course.
Four training boards: the automobile; electrical; machine shop and metal working, and printing started a voluntary trade test scheme for specific trades in their sectors. Trades
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