ENG-1982 — Page 110

EDUCATION

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employment survey of full-time students completing their courses showed that graduates had no difficulty in finding employment in fields in which they had trained.

In order to meet the demand for more technical institute courses, a series of expansion programmes has been undertaken. A purpose-built waterfront annex for yacht and boat building courses offered by the Haking Wong Technical Institute was completed in April and began operation in September. Another development was the start of construction work for an additional storey and an annex for the Lee Wai Lee Technical Institute.

Training Authorities

The Clothing Industry Training Authority and the Construction Industry Training Authority are statutory bodies established in 1975. The Clothing Industry Training Authority is empowered to collect a training levy on the export value of clothing items manufactured in, and exported from, Hong Kong. The Construction Industry Training Authority collects a levy based on the value of construction work undertaken in Hong Kong. The revenues are used to operate the Clothing Industry Training Centre and the Construction Industry Training Centre which provide practical training in key occupations for the two industries. A second Construction Industry Training Centre, at Kwai Chung, was commissioned in October, and the Clothing Industry Training Authority was granted a site in Kowloon Bay to establish a second training centre for the clothing industry.

Apprenticeship

The Apprenticeship Ordinance, which came into effect in 1976, provides a legal framework for the training of craftsmen and technicians. On April 1, 1982, the Apprenticeship (Amendment) Ordinance 1982 transferred to the Director of Technical Education and Industrial Training most of the functions of the Commissioner for Labour under the Apprenticeship Ordinance. The ordinance requires an employer to enter into a contract of apprenticeship when engaging an untrained or not fully trained person aged between 14 and 18 in a designated trade. The contract must be registered with the Director of Technical Education and Industrial Training. Employers of apprentices engaged in non-designated trades, or of apprentices over 18 years engaged in designated trades, may also send their contracts of apprenticeship to the Technical Education and Industrial Training Department for voluntary registration.

By the end of 1982, there were 38 designated trades as recommended by the former Hong Kong Training Council.

The Apprenticeship Section of the Technical Education and Industrial Training Depart- ment is responsible for administering the ordinance. Its duties include advising and assisting employers in the training and employment of apprentices; ensuring that the training of apprentices is properly carried out; conciliating in disputes arising out of a registered contract of apprenticeship; and co-operating with technical education institutions to ensure that apprentices receive the necessary complementary technical education. Courses of instruction for apprentices, normally on a part-time day-release basis, are provided at the Hong Kong Polytechnic and the technical institutes. In 1982, the section registered 3 767 apprenticeship contracts, of which 634 were for non-designated trades. These contracts covered 3 283 craft apprentices and 484 technician apprentices. By the end of the year, 10 172 apprentices were being trained in accordance with the ordinance. In the prevocational and vocational training field, a number of centres providing training in the technical, commercial and catering trades are run by the government and voluntary welfare agencies.