Page 267 of 279
506
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
nevertheless training people to take a more active part in the life of the community as responsible citizens. It is hoped that more such facilities will be provided in some of the new welfare buildings to be constructed in Mark IV and V estates. Beyond this, my department has at present no plans to co-ordinate with other Government departments or agencies to provide young people with the kind of training which Mr. Hu has in mind. Post-primary education of a technical or vocational nature is primarily the concern of the Education and Labour Departments. Paragraph 18 of the introduction to the White Paper entitled "Education Policy" which was published in April 1965 refers to the need for extending facilities of this kind. I am advised that the Education Department is discussing with the Labour and Social Welfare Departments how this policy can best be implemented. When this policy is decided by Government, the Resettlement Department will of course co-operate in implementing it in any way that it can appropriately do so. I would not, however, expect the young people in our estates to be provided with any special facilities not available to the rest of the population.
I would also invite attention to the Report of the Industrial Training Advisory Committee for the period ending 31st December, 1966 which was recently published: this Committee is charged with the responsibility for advising Government on matters relating to industrial training.
MR. HU:
Mr. Chairman, through you I would ask Mr. BARTY, will we be supplied with statistics of the number of residents in age groups in different Resettlement Estates?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT: Mr. Chairman, I had hoped that Mr. Hu might be prepared to spare my staff that labour. If he wishes, we will put a number of people onto getting the figures if he will specify what age groups he has in mind. I hope, however, that he may be kind enough to wait for the results of the bi-census, which I am sure will provide figures of this kind. I have no reason to believe that there will be any marked difference between the incidence of age groups in Resettlement Estates as compared with the Colony as a whole.
MR. HU: I will not press this point. Mr. Chairman, since the publication of the Policy Paper on Education, do you or Mr. BARTY know if any Government Department is taking the initiative to implement that part of the Policy which concerns technical or vocational training for young people?
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
507
CHAIRMAN: Mr. Hu, if it is any help, we know from an Information Services Department release of the 28th February this year, that the Industrial Training Advisory Committee has concluded its first review of the problem of industrial training, and I have in front of me a three-page document which is a summary of that review. It is a very interesting paper and I should be glad to have it copied and issued to members.
MR. HU: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, so that as far as you know, and so far as Mr. BARTY knows, no Government Department took the initiative to implement the Education Policy Paper with regard to that part?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT: If I remember correctly, paragraph 18 in the Introduction of the White Paper was very short and merely drew attention to the need for expanding facilities for technical vocational training. As I have already indicated in my answer to the question Mr. Chairman, the Education Department has in fact been active on this subject. It has taken the initiative in starting and conducting discussions with the Labour Department and the Social Welfare Department with a view to coming forward with recommendations as to how the policy should be implemented.
MR. HU: So far as the Resettlement Department is concerned, there was no plan to implement such a kind of training, is that correct?
CHAIRMAN: Mr. Hu, perhaps I might supplement what Mr. BARTY has said. You are asking if any particular Government department has taken any particular action. I think that is not quite the way to approach this particular problem, because the preamble of this summary, which I propose to circulate, begins as follows, "The Industrial Training Advisory Committee is a non-statutory body established by Government on the 1st June, 1965, with the Commissioner of Labour as Chairman and with 21 other members, including eight representatives of Government departments, four representatives of employers' associations, the four workers' representatives on the Labour Advisory Board, and five representatives of other organizations concerned either directly or indirectly with industry.
The aims of this Advisory Committee are to ensure that, in general, an adequate amount of training for industry is done, to see that the right types of workers are trained, and to improve the quality of the training now being given. Its terms of reference include the requirement to recommend, in the light of experience gained during the first two years of its operations, what permanent machinery should be set up for ensuring a comprehensive system of industrial training geared to meet the needs of Hong Kong's industries as they develop.
Page 279
279
279
Page 267 of 279
506
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
nevertheless training people to take a more active part in the life of the community as responsible citizens. It is hoped that more such facilities will be provided in some of the new welfare buildings to be constructed in Mark IV and V estates. Beyond this, my department has at present no plans to co-ordinate with other Government departments or agencies to provide young people with the kind of training which Mr. Hu has in mind. Post-primary education of a technical or vocational nature is primarily the concern of the Education and Labour Departments. Paragraph 18 of the introduction to the White Paper en- titled "Education Policy" which was published in April 1965 refers to the need for extending facilities of this kind. I am advised that the Education Department is discussing with the Labour and Social Welfare Depart- ments how this policy can best be implemented. When this policy is decided by Government, the Resettlement Department will of course co-operate in implementing it in any way that it can appropriately do so. I would not, however, expect the young people in our estates to be provided with any special facilities not available to the rest of the population.
I would also invite attention to the Report of the Industrial Training Advisory Committee for the period ending 31st December, 1966 which was recently published: this Committee is charged with the responsibility for advising Government on matters relating to industrial training.
MR. HU:
Mr. Chairman, through you I would ask Mr. BARTY, will we be supplied with statistics of the number of residents in age groups in different Resettlement Estates?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-Mr. Chairman, I had hoped that Mr. Hu might be prepared to spare my staff that labour. If he wishes, we will put a number of people onto getting the figures if he will specify what age groups he has in mind. I hope, however, that he may be kind enough to wait for the results of the bi-census, which I am sure will provide figures of this kind. I have no reason to believe that there will be any marked difference between the incidence of age groups in Resettlement Estates as compared with the Colony as a whole.
MR. HU:-I will not press this point. Mr. Chairman, since the publication of the Policy Paper on Education, do you or Mr. BARTY know if any Government Department is taking the initiative to imple- ment that part of the Policy which concerns technical or vocational training for young people?
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
507
CHAIRMAN: -Mr. Hu, if it is any help, we know from an Informa- tion Services Department release of the 28th February this year, that the Industrial Training Advisory Committee has concluded its first review of the problem of industrial training, and I have in front of me a three- page document which is a summary of that review. It is a very interest- ing paper and I should be glad to have it copied and issued to members.
MR. HU:-Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, so that as far as you know, and so far as Mr. BARTY knows, no Government Department took the initiative to implement the Education Policy Paper with regard to that part?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT: If I remember correctly, paragraph 18 in the Introduction of the White Paper was very short and merely drew attention to the need for expanding facilities for technical vocational training. As I have already indicated in my answer to the question Mr. Chairman, the Education Department has in fact been active on this subject. It has taken the initiative in starting and con- ducting discussions with the Labour Department and the Social Welfare Department with a view to coming forward with recommendations as to how the policy should be implemented.
MR. HU: So far as the Resettlement Department is concerned, there was no plan to implement such a kind of training, is that correct?
CHAIRMAN:-Mr. Hu, perhaps I might supplement what Mr. BARTY has said. You are asking if any particular Government department has taken any particular action. I think that is not quite the way to approach this particular problem, because the preamble of this summary, which I propose to circulate, begins as follows, "The Industrial Training Advisory Committee is a non-statutory body established by Government on the 1st June, 1965, with the Commissioner of Labour as Chairman and with 21 other members, including eight representatives of Govern- ment departments, four representatives of employers' associations, the four workers' representatives on the Labour Advisory Board, and five representatives of other organizations concerned either directly or in- directly with industry.
The aims of this Advisory Committee are to ensure that, in general, an adequate amount of training for industry is done, to see that the right types of workers are trained, and to improve the quality of the training now being given. Its terms of reference include the requirement to recommend, in the light of experience gained during the first two years of its operations, what permanent machinery should be set up for ensuring a comprehensive system of industrial training geared to meet the needs of Hong Kong's industries as they develop.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.