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MONDAY, MARCH 20, 1978
PR. TSANG SAID PAST EMPLOYMENT SURVEYS REVEALED THAT 83 PER CENT OF THE GRADUATES OF TECHNICAL INSTITUTES WERE EMPLOYED WITHIN THREE MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION, 13 PER CENT PURSUED FURTHER STUDIES AND 4 PER CENT REMAINED UNEMPLOYED.
MOST GRADUATES WHO WERE EMPLOYED PURSUED FURTHER PART-TIME STUDIES RELATED TO THEIR EMPLOYMENT. ABOUT THREE-QUARTERS OF THE BASIC CRAFT GRADUATES RETURNED TO TECHNICAL INSTITUTES FOR PART-TIME STUDIES.
MR. TSANG ALSO SAID THAT THE AVERAGE MONTHLY SALARY FOR FULL-TIME GRADUATES FROM TECHNICIAN COURSES WAS ABOUT $1,000 AND THAT FOR GRADUATES FROM FULL-TIME BASIC CRAFT COURSES DURING THEIR THREE-YEAR APPRENTICESHIP WAS ABOUT $500, ABOUT
150 LESS THAN THAT EARNED BY COMMERCIAL GRADUATES. ON COMPLETION OF THE CRAFT APPRENTICESHIP THEIR MONTHLY INCOME VARIED FROM TRADE TO TRADE AND RANGED FROM 0850 TO $1,600.
THE SURVEYS ALSO REVEALED THAT 50 PER CENT OF THE GRADUATES EMPLOYED, PARTICULARLY AT THE CRAFT LEVEL, WERE NOT SATISFIED WITH THEIR PRESENT EMPLOYMENT. THE GRADUATES FELT THAT THEIR PAY WAS LOW AND PROMOTION PROSPECTS WERE NOT BRIGHT.
AS REGARDS PRE-VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS MR. TSANG SAID THAT THE DEMAND FOR THESE SCHOOL PLACES IN THE PAST WAS ENCOURAGING. FIRST YEAR PLACES WERE ALWAYS HEAVILY OVER-SUBSCR I BED. THESE SCHOOLS HAD AN ANNUAL INTAKE OF ABOUT 3,000 STUDENTS AND A CURRENT OUTPUT OF ABOUT 1,000 GRADUATES. ABOUT 60 PER CENT OF THESE GRADUATES JOINED INDUSTRY AS APPRENTICES. WHEN THE THREE NEW PRE-VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS WOULD BE COMPLETED BY 1980, ANNUAL OUTPUT WOULD GO UP TO 3,500 GRADUATES.
THE
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