EDUCATION
The Vocational Training Council Established under the Vocational Training Council Ordinance and funded by a subvention from the government, the VTC is responsible for advising the Governor on measures to ensure a comprehensive system of technical education and industrial training suited to the developing needs of Hong Kong, and for administering technical institutes and industrial training centres. (Two industry sectors, construction and clothing, operate training centres funded by levies under separate statutory authorities.) Most of the VTC's 22 members are prominent industrialists and academics. Three government officials, the Secretary for Economic Services, Director of Education, and the Commissioner for Labour, are also appointed to the council.
On August 1, the VTC took over from the government responsibility for skills training for the disabled and administration of the statutory apprenticeship scheme. This followed a government decision to place all activities relating to vocational and industrial training under one executive agency, and to encourage those civil servants working in the Department of Technical Education and Industrial Training to transfer to the VTC. While the department has been retained to accommodate staff who opted to remain civil servants, all its substantive functions are now vested in the council.
To ensure that the council's advice and operations meet the needs of industry and the service sector, the government has appointed, on the council's advice, 20 training boards and seven general committees with members representing those who use the graduates of VTC training courses. Each training board is responsible for training in one sector of the economy, such as electronics, textiles or insurance; while general committees are concerned with training relevant to several sectors, such as precision tooling, translation and the training of technologists.
During the year, the VTC began to prepare for the transfer of 6 750 sub-degree places from polytechnics to the council, as part of the government's plans for tertiary expansion. Building work started on a new technical college on Tsing Yi Island and on a new industrial training complex at Pok Fu Lam, and alteration and upgrading work began at the existing technical institutes.
The Hong Kong Examinations Authority
The HKEA was established in 1977 as an independent statutory body, with membership drawn from the teaching profession, tertiary institutions and members of the business community. It is self-funding and non-profit-making. The authority's main role is to operate local public examinations. It also offers proficiency tests, aimed at adults, in Putonghua and in English Language Speaking Skills, and in 1990 began offering basic proficiency tests for school-leavers in English language, Chinese language and mathematics.
On behalf of overseas examining bodies the HKEA conducts a large number of examinations leading to academic, professional or practical qualifications.
In 1991, a total of 135 912 candidates entered for the HKCEE, 2 649 for the Higher Level examination, and 16 545 for the A-Level examination. The basic proficiency tests attracted 7 555 candidates. A total of 231 300 candidates sat for overseas examinations, 66 300 of them for the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 42 800 for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, and 33 200 for TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language).
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