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leavers and adult learners. It provided some 180 000 full-time and part-time places during the 2009-10 academic year.

The VTC provides a range of quality, internationally recognised full-time and part-time courses varying from those designed for craftsmen to those for students seeking higher diplomas. They are offered through the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education, the School of Business and Information Systems, the Hong Kong Design Institute, the Institute of Professional Education and Knowledge, the Youth College, training and development centres and skills centres for people with disabilities. The council also provides services such as the administration of the apprenticeship scheme, trade testing and certification.

Post-secondary Education

Hong Kong has 12 degree-awarding higher education institutions, eight of which are funded by the public through the University Grants Committee (UGC). The other four are the publicly-funded Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and the self-financing Open University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Shue Yan University and Chu Hai College of Higher Education. Together with providers offering locally accredited sub-degree progammes, there are 23 post-secondary institutions in Hong Kong.

The overall post-secondary participation rate for the 17 to 20 age group increased from 33 per cent in the 2000-01 academic year to over 60 per cent in the 2008-09 academic year. At the degree level, there are 14 500 first-year-first-degree places in institutions funded by the UGC, for about 18 per cent of the relevant age cohort. A further 4 per cent in the same age group enjoyed access to around 3 000 places in self-financing degree programmes. In addition, the UGC-funded institutions and the self-financing degree-awarding institutions provide around 2 000 senior year undergraduate places and 2 000 top-up degree places respectively for graduates of sub-degree programmes and students with other qualifications.

At the sub-degree level, there are around 26 000 available self-financing places. These are in addition to some 9 700 publicly-funded places for sub-degree level courses offered by the City University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the Hong Kong Institute of Education, the VTC and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.

The UGC is a non-statutory advisory body appointed by the Chief Executive to advise the Government on the development and funding of higher education and to administer public grants to the eight higher education institutions. It also plays a major role in quality assurance and in promoting research. The committee comprises local and non-local academics, professionals and community leaders.

Each of the eight higher education institutions funded through the UGC is an autonomous statutory body with its own ordinance and governing body. They enjoy a high degree of academic and institutional autonomy, and are free to manage their own affairs within the parameters of the law.