XN000022-1986-01-13 — Page 9

8

MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 1986

THE DEPARTMENT'S AMBULANCE SERVICE ALSO HAD A HECTIC YEAR - RECEIVING A RECORD 333 905 CALLS WITH 233 178 EMERGENCY CALLS COMPARED WITH 313 212 IN 1984, OF WHICH 220 768 WERE EMERGENCIES.

THE NUMBER OF PATIENTS CARRIED BY AMBULANCE ACHIEVED ANOTHER RECORD OF 441 174 LAST YEAR, COMPARED WITH 417 297 IN 1984.

GOOD JOB PROSPECTS FOR INSTITUTE GRADUATES

*****

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION OF GRADUATES OF THE VOCATIONAL TRAINING COUNCIL'S TECHNICAL INSTITUTES LAST YEAR WAS ENCOURAGING, WITH MORE THAN TWO-THIRDS GETTING A JOB WITHIN THREE MONTHS OF GRADUATION, A COUNCIL SPOKESMAN SAID TODAY.

A SURVEY CONDUCTED BY THE COUNCIL REVEALED THAT 68 PER CENT OF THE 3 300 GRADUATES OF FULL-TIME COURSES IN THE 1984-85 ACADEMIC YEAR WERE EMPLOYED WITHIN THREE MONTHS OF GRADUATION COMPARED WITH 72 PER CENT THE PREVIOUS YEAR.

THE NUMBER OF GRADUATES PURSUING FURTHER FULL-TIME STUDIES INCREASED FROM 15 PER CENT TO 19 PER CENT, IT ADDED.

THE SURVEY ALSO SHOWED THAT 36 PER CENT OF EMPLOYED GRADUATES HAD TAKEN UP WORK ALMOST IMMEDIATELY AFTER COMPLETION OF THEIR STUDIES, IN 1984, THE FIGURE WAS 33 PER CENT.

THE RESULT OF THE SURVEY SHOWED THAT GRADUATES WERE READILY ACCEPTED BY COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY AND MOST HAD BEEN ABLE TO GET JOBS RELATED TO THE IR COURSE OF STUDY, THE SPOKESMAN SAID.

AMONG THOSE EMPLOYED, 37 PER CENT WERE IN THE MANUFACTURING AND CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRIES, 39 PER CENT IN COMMERCE AND SERVICING SECTORS, FOUR PER CENT IN GOVERNMENT OR GOVERNMENT-SUBVENTED BODIES WHILE THE REST WERE IN OTHER FIELDS SUCH AS EDUCATION AND NON- PROF ITING-MAKING INSTITUTIONS.

THE AVERAGE MONTHLY SALARY OF EMPLOYED GRADUATES AT THE TIME OF THE SURVEY WAS ABOUT $2 000, WHICH WAS 10 PER CENT HIGHER THAN THAT OF THE 1984 SURVEY.

+THE SURVEY SHOWED THAT THE MAJORITY OF THOSE WHO PURSUED FURTHER FULL-TIME STUDIES WERE EITHER ABSORBED BY THE POLYTECHNICS OR RE-ADMITTED TO HIGH LEVEL COURSES OF TECHNICAL INSTITUTES,+ THE SPOKESMAN SAID.

19