ENG-2003 — Page 196

EDUCATION

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Vocational Education

The Vocational Training Council (VTC) was established in 1982 to provide and promote a cost-effective and comprehensive system of vocational education and training for school leavers and adult learners to acquire skills and knowledge for lifelong learning and enhanced employability.

The VTC provides high quality and internationally recognised full-time pre-employment education and training courses, at various levels ranging from the craftsman level to higher diploma level, through its Hong Kong Institute of Education, VTC School of Business and Information Systems, training and development centres. It also operates industry-wide training schemes and a voluntary trade testing and certification scheme.

A self-funded Continuing Professional Development Centre has been set up to promote continuing professional education by providing short courses and organising professional examinations such the Insurance Intermediaries Qualifying Examination and the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Examination.

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Altogether, some 147 000 full-time and part-time places were available during 2003 for both school leavers and people in employment.

Technical Training

The Construction Industry Training Authority provides training for the construction industry. It operates three construction training centres as well as a management training centre, a trade testing centre and a safety training centre. The Authority is funded by a levy of 0.4 per cent on the value of all construction works exceeding $1 million. It offered a total of 4 264 full-time and 130 221 part-time training places in the 2003-04 training year. In addition, the Authority conducts trade tests for construction workers to assess the standards of skills achieved, and certification tests for operators of construction plants.

The Clothing Industry Training Authority provides training courses for the clothing and footwear industries. It is financed by a levy of 0.03 per cent on the Free-on-Board value of clothing and footwear items produced in and exported from Hong Kong. It operates two training centres to deliver both full-time and part-time courses at technician and craftsman levels. In 2003-04, the Authority provided training to 480 full-time and 5 570 part-time students.

Five skills centres, three run by the VTC and two by non-governmental organisations, prepare people with a disability for open employment or mainstream. vocational education and technical training. Collectively, they provide 1 362 full-time places, 310 of them residential, for the 2003-04 training year.

Post-secondary Education

Many higher education institutions have responded positively to the Chief Executive's policy initiative to provide more post-secondary education opportunities to secondary school leavers by offering self-financing programmes.

In 2003-04, more than 120 accredited self-financing programmes are offered by 18 post-secondary institutions, providing some 12 000 full-time places at sub-degree level or above. These are in addition to some 9 500 publicly funded places at sub-degree level offered by the City University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Polytechnic