ENG-1977 — Page 82

EMPLOYMENT

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measures necessary to ensure a comprehensive system of manpower training geared to meet the developing needs of Hong Kong's economy. On the council's recommenda- tion, the Governor appointed 10 industry training boards and five committees to help the council. The 10 training boards deal with the training needs and problems of 10 major industries: automobile repair and servicing; building and civil engineering; clothing; electrical; electronics; machine shop and metal working; plastics; printing; shipbuilding and ship repairs; and textiles. The five committees examine problems common to more than one industry, such as apprenticeship, instructor training, tech- nical training in institutions, translating technical terms and vocational training. The training council also has two ad hoc committees one on training in the commercial

and service sectors and the other on technologist training. The council submitted its third report to the Governor in August, 1977. The Training Council Division of the Labour Department is the secretariat of the training council.

In 1977, manpower surveys were conducted by the five training boards covering the building and civil engineering, electrical, plastics, textile and clothing industries. The training council approved for publication several survey reports and manuals on job standards, many of which are on sale at the Government Publications Centre. The training council also completed a report on technical manpower that quantifies, for Hong Kong as a whole, the overall demand for technical manpower at different job levels in any branch of engineering or technology, and the supply from various tech- nical institutions necessary to meet this demand.

The Clothing Industry Training Authority and the Construction Industry Training Authority were appointed by the Governor in September, 1975, pursuant to the Indus- trial Training (Clothing Industry) Ordinance and the Industrial Training (Construc- tion Industry) Ordinance. The clothing industry authority is empowered to collect a training levy on the total export value of clothing items manufactured in, and exported from, Hong Kong; the construction industry authority collects a levy based on the value of all construction works undertaken in Hong Kong. The revenue is used to maintain, respectively, the Construction Industry Training Centre, opened in August, 1977, and the Clothing Industry Training Centre, opened in October, 1977. These training centres provide practical training in key occupations for the clothing and construction industries.

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The Apprenticeship Ordinance, which came into force in July, 1976, provides a legal framework for training people aged between 14 and 18 working in designated trades. The essence of the ordinance is that an employer engaging a young person in a designated trade must enter into an apprenticeship contract with him unless he has already completed an apprenticeship in that trade. This employer also must register the contract with the Commissioner for Labour. Employers of apprentices engaged in non-designated trades, or of apprentices over the age of 18 years and engaged in designated trades, may send their contracts of apprenticeship to the Labour Depart- ment for voluntary registration. By the end of 1977, 23 designated trades and 3,171 apprentices were on the register. The latter included 1,189 apprentices registered voluntarily under this ordinance. It is planned to designate a further five trades in 1978.

The Apprenticeship Division of the Labour Department is responsible for admin- istering the ordinance. Its duties include: advising and helping employers train and