ENG-1995 — Page 190

EDUCATION

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The New Technology Training Scheme provides matching grants to assist companies in sending their employees to acquire skills in new technologies.

Apprenticeship Schemes

The Apprenticeship Ordinance promotes and regulates the employment and training of apprentices in 42 designated trades. Anyone aged below 18 working in any of the 42 designated trades must, unless they have already completed an apprenticeship in the trade, enter into a contract of apprenticeship with the employer. This must be registered with the Director of Apprenticeship, who is concurrently the executive director of the VTC. Contracts in other trades may also be registered voluntarily.

Inspectors advise and help employers and apprentices in training and employment matters, and visit workplaces to ensure training schemes are properly implemented. A free placement service is offered to job-seekers interested in an apprenticeship. By the end of December, 7905 apprentices were being trained (2013 in non-designated trades), covering 6 333 craft and 1 572 technician apprentices.

Training for People with a Disability

Five skills centres, three run by the VTC and two by voluntary agencies, prepare disabled people for open employment or mainstream technical education and industrial training. They provide 798 full-time places, of which 303 are residential.

Support services provided by the VTC include a vocational assessment service, using internationally-recognised tests and work samples designed to match local skill profiles. All mildly mentally handicapped students attend an assessment programme in their final school year. A comprehensive programme is used in assessing the more complex cases.

The VTC's Technical Aids and Resource Centre designs and makes aids for disabled people to enhance their training and employment prospects, and provides information and resource materials on vocational rehabilitation.

An inspectorate unit advises skills centres on administration, curriculum, training methods and standards, and guides disabled students on training courses. The unit works closely with the Labour Department's selective placement service to ensure that training matches local employment market demand. About 75 per cent of disabled people completing full-time courses in technical institutes and skills centres entered into open employment or enrolled in further courses in mainstream technical education during the year.

Tertiary Education

Ten years ago, less than five per cent of the 17-20 age group could receive tertiary education in Hong Kong. By 1994-95, this figure had been increased to 18 per cent, with 14 500 places available for first-year, first-degree courses,

Degrees up to doctorate level awarded locally are recognised by institutions of higher learning around the world. Academic standards are guaranteed by the appointment of external examiners from prominent overseas universities and colleges. The HKCAA validates courses and programmes offered by Hong Kong's non- university, degree-awarding institutions.