EDUCATION
The Construction Industry Training Authority provides training for the construction industry. It operates three construction training centres plus a management training centre, a trade testing centre and a safety training centre. The Authority is funded by a levy of 0.4 per cent on the value of all construction works. exceeding $1 million. It offered a total of 4 744 full-time and 57 307 part-time training places in the 2002-03 training year. In addition, the Authority conducts certification tests for operators of construction plants, and offers trade tests for construction workers to enhance site safety and workmanship.
The Clothing Industry Training Authority provides 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 operates two training centres to deliver both full-time and part-time courses at technician and craftsman levels. Full-time courses are targeted at Form 3 and Form 5 school leavers. Part-time courses provide in-service personnel the opportunity to upgrade their technical knowledge and trade skills. The Authority also helps the Employees Retraining Board with retraining programmes for workers. In addition, it offers tailored coaching for individual garment companies to cater for their particular staffing needs. In 2001-02, the Authority provided training to 600 full-time and 4 300 part-time students.
Five skills centres, three run by the VTC and two by non-governmental organisations, prepare people with a disability for open employment or mainstream vocational education and technical training. Collectively, they provide 1 251 full-time places, 482 of them residential, for the 2002-03 training year. The training is administered by an Inspectorate Unit in the VTC. The unit works closely with the Labour Department to ensure that training matches the demand of the local employment market. Some 83 per cent of people with a disability completing full-time courses in the skills centres entered open employment or enrolled in further courses in mainstream vocational education during the year.
Post-secondary Education
Apart from some 7 800 publicly funded places at sub-degree level offered by the City University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the Hong Kong Institute of Education, Vocational Training Council and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, many higher education institutions have responded positively to the Chief Executive's policy initiative to provide more post-secondary education opportunities to secondary school leavers by offering self-financing programmes.
In 2002-03, more than 80 accredited self-financing programmes are offered by 16 post-secondary providers, providing some 9 000 full-time student places at sub-degree level or above.
Higher Education
At present, 14 500 first-year-first-degree places are made available in institutions funded by the University Grants Committee (UGC), which aims to cover about 18 per cent of the 17-20 age group. On top of this, a further 24 per cent of people in the same age group have access to higher education in other forms (for example, sub-degree programmes and vocational training) or go to universities overseas. To enhance the global outlook of local students, the institutions are encouraged to enrol non-local undergraduates and taught postgraduates, who may number up to 4 per cent of the
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