ENG-1966 — Page 55

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EMPLOYMENT

INDUSTRIAL TRAINING

In September 1965 the government appointed an Industrial Training Advisory Committee, comprising representatives of industry, labour, other organizations and the government, under the chairmanship of the Commissioner of Labour. On the advice of this committee, the government has so far appointed six associated industrial committees to investigate and report on industrial training problems in four manufacturing industries (namely electronics, textiles, clothing and plastics, which manufacture 67 per cent of Hong Kong's exports) and also in the engineering and building construction trades. The chairman and most of the members of these committees have been drawn from the industries concerned, although a small number of government officers also serve on them, with a Labour Department representative as both member and secretary of each committee.

Responsibilities in the field of industrial training are divided among government departments. For the training of operatives and apprentices, the principal onus of the government's participation lies with the Labour Department, to be discharged in consultation with industry and with other departments, including the Education Department. For technician and technological training, the respon- sibility falls mainly upon the Education Department. At technician level, a large part of the financial burden continues to rest upon the government as far as recurrent expenditure is concerned, although considerable capital resources have been supplied by industry for the development of the Technical College. At the technological level, the provision of education remains in the hands of the govern- ment so far as it is not provided by the universities.

The government has indicated that while industry itself must be responsible for financing training at skilled and semi-skilled levels, it will assist by providing land free of premium for approved group- training schemes organized by industry, or by granting loans for the purchase of flatted factory floor space for training purposes. Some industries have schemes for operative training, although their scope and methods vary widely. A prominent example is the textile in- dustry, which has established a well organized training system.

Training centres run by certain voluntary welfare organizations, as well as by certain government departments, offer various forms