EDUCATION
financed by a government injection of $300 million, and by levies paid by employers who import skilled labour from outside Hong Kong. Various agencies, including the VTC, provide re-training courses, and employers are encouraged to offer on-the-job training.
Apprenticeship Schemes
The Apprenticeship Ordinance governs the training of craftsmen and technicians in 42 designated trades. Anyone aged between 14 and 18, who is employed in one of these trades and has not completed an apprenticeship, must enter into a contract with the employer. This must be registered with the Director of Apprenticeship, who is the executive director of the VTC. Contracts in respect of other trades, or for apprentices aged over 18 years, may be registered voluntarily. An apprenticeship normally lasts three to four years, but qualifications earned before the apprenticeship starts, such as completion of a craft foundation course, may lead to exemption from the first year of the apprenticeship.
The Office of the Director of Appenticeship advises and helps employers of apprentices. Inspectors visit workplaces where apprentices are employed, to ensure that training schemes are properly implemented; help to resolve disputes arising from registered contracts; and ensure that apprentices receive the required technical education on courses at the polytechnics or technical institutes. The office also provides a free apprentice placement service to job-seekers interested in apprentice training. In 1993, 4 266 contracts were registered. Of these, 914 were in non-designated trades. The contracts covered 3 664 craft apprentices and 602 technician apprentices. By the year's end, 8 996 apprentices were being trained.
Vocational Training for the Disabled
Six skills centres, three run by the VTC and three by voluntary agencies, prepare disabled people for open employment or mainstream technical education and industrial training. The centres have a capacity of 840 places, of which 358 are residential.
The VTC also provides support services. The vocational assessment service assesses the potential of the disabled person, and helps in selecting a suitable training programme. Internationally-recognised tests are used, as well as work samples designed to match local industrial skill profiles. All mildly mentally disabled school students undergo a one-week vocational assessment in their final school year. An eight-week programme provides an in-depth assessment of more complex cases.
The Technical Aids and Resource Centre designs and makes technical aids for disabled trainees, students and workers to enhance their training, employment prospects and productivity. It also provides information and resource materials on vocational rehabilitation, which are made available to disabled people and professionals in the field.
An inspectorate unit advises skills centres on administration, curriculum, training methods and standards. It also provides guidance and counselling to disabled students in technical institutes and industrial training centres. The unit works closely with the Labour Department's selective placement service, to ensure that training matches the demand for skills in the local employment market. The annual employment survey of disabled students and trainees completing full-time courses in technical institutes and skills centres showed that about 85 per cent either entered open employment, or were enrolled in mainstream technical education courses.
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