Budget Speech

Training and Retraining

136.      Apart from furthering their studies, young people may pursue pre-employment training in various areas according to their abilities and aspirations. By so doing, they will prepare themselves for career development. For those who are already in employment, retraining facilitates their career advancement or change. To meet these different needs, the Vocational Training Council (VTC) and the Employees Retraining Board (ERB) provide courses to assist participants in acquiring vocational skills and recognised qualifications with a view to enhancing their employability and competitiveness.

137.      The ERB will provide 130 000 training places in 2011-12. These places are targeted at non-engaged youths, middle-aged people who need to change jobs, ethnic minorities and new arrivals seeking employment in the local job market. The ERB has reserved resources for the provision of 30 000 additional places when necessary.

138.      The VTC now offers 235 000 training places, providing people of different education levels with pre-employment and in-service vocational education and training programmes. These programmes include Higher Diploma courses, in-service short training programmes, training programmes for non-engaged youths and apprentice training. The VTC also implements a trade testing and certification system to help participants obtain recognised qualifications.

139.      The Government will provide a recurrent subvention of about $1.94 billion to the VTC in 2011-12 to meet the community’s demand for vocational education and training programmes. These programmes also offer fresh graduates another good option, other than pursuing further studies and seeking jobs, for achieving self-reliance and self-enhancement.

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