ENG-2005 — Page 176

142 | Employment

Hong Kong Polytechnic University also confirmed the effectiveness of the scheme in enhancing the employability of young people in a comprehensive review on the scheme completed in 2005.

Youth Self-employment Support Scheme

The Youth Self-employment Support Scheme was launched in May 2004 as a pilot project to train and assist young people aged 18 to 24 with education attainment below degree level who were assessed to have the motivation to become self-employed.

Under the scheme, a total of 1 475 trainees received a year's training and a full range of support services and facilities involving 36 projects, which were run by NGOs commissioned by the Labour Department. When the scheme ended in September 2005, the trainees had successfully completed 10 443 business transactions with recorded profits of more than $5.1 million.

Employees Retraining Scheme

The Employees Retraining Scheme (ERS) was launched in 1992 to help eligible. workers adjust to changes in the economic environment. It is administered by the Employees Retraining Board (ERB), a statutory body of employers, employees and people in vocational training, retraining and manpower planning as well as the Government which was set up under the Employees Retraining Ordinance. In addition to regular income from a levy collected under the labour importation schemes, the Government provides a recurrent subvention amounting to $372 million in 2005-06.

The ERS focuses on assisting displaced workers who have experienced difficulties in seeking alternative employment. The main target group of the scheme is displaced workers aged 30 or over with no more than lower secondary education. The scheme offers a wide variety of full-time and part-time courses delivered through a network of more than 50 approved training bodies. The courses broadly fall into seven categories: courses on job search skills, job-specific skills, general skills (computer and vocational languages), courses for the elderly, courses for people with disabilities, tailor-made courses and self-employment courses. New courses with market potential and 'top up' modules are developed to equip retrainees with skills needed to enhance their employment opportunities and sustain their employability.

During the year, about 55 000 full-time and 54 000 part-time retraining places were provided under the ERS. The two Retraining Resource Centres, in Cheung Sha Wan and Lok Fu, continued to provide self-learning facilities, job market information and other supporting services to all graduate retrainees. The objective is to reinforce the effectiveness of the ERS and foster the concept of lifelong learning.

The Integrated Scheme for Local Domestic Helpers, an initiative launched in May 2002, provides a one-stop service for job placements, referrals and follow-up service for employers and graduate retrainees of domestic helper courses. Five months after its launch, the ERB set up the Practical Skills Training and Assessment Centre which initially administered standardised skill assessments for retrainees of domestic helper courses and issued competency cards in recognition of their skills level. The centre