EDUCATION
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and in-service personnel. Trade tests will be offered to in-service personnel, providing them with an opportunity to acquire recognised professional qualifications and in the longer term improve the overall professional standards of the industry.
Information Technology Training and Development
During the year, the VTC began to implement a $176 million three-year strategy to enhance its Information Technology (IT) infrastructure and services. The VTC's Information Technology Training and Development Centre continues to provide IT training for new entrants and upgrading training for IT professionals. The centre also participated in an IT Assistant Training (ITAT) Programme that provided essential IT skills training for young school leavers and the unemployed with a view to enhancing their competitiveness in the job market as well as meeting the large market demand for trained people at the junior level to perform basic IT and e-commerce- related tasks. The pilot courses of the ITAT Programme offering 300 places were conducted in early 2000. In the light of the satisfactory response and job placement, 1 000 places are planned for 2000-01.
Management Development
Under the VTC's auspices, the mission of the Management Development Centre of Hong Kong is to enhance managerial effectiveness. During the year, it continued to develop management learning materials, deliver training programmes to managers and trainers and promote management training and development to thousands of organisations. In early 2000, a cyber Management Development Centre (http://www.mdchk.com) was established to offer new learning and experience-sharing opportunities. The Business Start-up Centre established under the then Industry Department's Services Support Fund provided training, business advisory service and office facilities for hundreds of entrepreneurs wishing to start business in Hong Kong.
Industry-specific Training
The Construction Industry Training Authority, established in 1975, operates three construction training centres plus a management training centre, a trade testing centre and a safety training centre, offering a total of 7 899 full-time and 82 637 part- time training places for the 2000-01 training year. Full-time courses are offered to train up craftsman operators and technicians in the construction field; and part-time courses for the continuing education of in-service construction personnel. The authority also conducts certification tests for operators of construction plants, and offers trade tests and intermediate trade tests for construction workers with a view to enhancing site safety and workmanship, respectively. The authority is funded by a levy of 0.4 per cent on the value of all construction works exceeding $1 million.
The Clothing Industry Training Authority was established in 1975 to provide training courses for the clothing and footwear industries. It is financed by a levy of 0.03 per cent on the Free on Board value of clothing and footwear items produced in and exported from Hong Kong. It has two training centres to offer various training programmes to youngsters and those currently serving in the industries. In addition, in-house training programmes are tailor-made for individual manufacturers to help the transfer of technical know-how. It also helps the Employees Retraining Board with retraining programmes for displaced workers. In 2000, 5 486 people were trained at technician, craftsman and operative levels on a full-time and a part-time basis.