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and learning in the institutions are operating properly, the committee has undertaken a series of Teaching and Learning Quality Process Reviews of the institutions starting from January 1996.
The UGC conducted the second Research Assessment Exercise in November 1996, aimed at assessing the research output performance of the UGC-funded institutions (except HKIEd which joined the UGC in December 1996). The findings will be used as the basis for allocating some of the research portion of the institutional recurrent grant for the 1998-2001 triennium.
Research Grants Council
The Research Grants Council (RGC) advises the government, through the UGC, on the needs of tertiary institutions for academic research and the funding required, and monitors the use of public research grants. It comprises seven local academics, nine overseas academics and three local professionals and industrialists.
Grant applications are considered by four specialist panels composed mainly of local academics, covering physical sciences, engineering, biology and medicine, humanities, social sciences and business studies. An independent network of academic referees provides impartial advice. In 1996-97, the RGC received a record 1 040 applications and disbursed $331 million in grants for academic research.
During the year, the RGC and the British Council jointly sponsored the United Kingdom/Hong Kong Joint Research Scheme, which aimed at strengthening existing links between local and British tertiary institutions. The RGC also launched a similar scheme with the German Academic Exchange Service.
Vocational Training Council
The Vocational Training Council (VTC) advises the government on measures to ensure a comprehensive system of technical education and industrial training suited to Hong Kong's developing needs. It also administers technical colleges, technical institutes, industrial training centres, skills centres for the disabled and the statutory apprenticeship scheme. Its membership comprises industrialists, academics, employee representatives and government officials.
Several training boards and committees which deal with areas of training in one or more economic sectors come under the VTC. Their main tasks include assessment of manpower needs and recommending measures to meet such needs, prescribing job specifications, training programmes and trade test guidelines, and overseeing the operation of training centres and trade testing.
In March 1996, the Education and Manpower Branch commissioned a consultancy study on the VTC with the aim of mapping out its direction in the medium term. Views of the major stakeholders were sought when the study concluded at the end of August.
Hong Kong Examinations Authority
The Hong Kong Examinations Authority (HKEA) is an independent and self- funding statutory body, with members drawn from the teaching profession, tertiary institutions and the business community. It operates two local public examinations: the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE) and the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination (HKALE). It also offers proficiency tests in Putonghua