Professional Training

116.    Government is committed to nurturing professionals to meet our needs.  Since this academic year, we have launched a subsidy scheme of $960 million for students pursuing self-financing undergraduate programmes in selected disciplines, including healthcare, architecture and engineering, testing and certification, creative industries, logistics as well as tourism and hospitality.

117.    To further encourage continuing education, I shall implement a pilot scheme to provide tuition fee subsidy for three cohorts of students admitted to designated professional part-time programmes offered by the Vocational Training Council starting from the next academic year.  Programmes in the disciplines of construction, engineering and technology will be covered.  The total commitment will be $200 million, benefiting 5 600 people.

118.    As for the construction industry, we have allocated a total of $420 million over the past six years to support the Construction Industry Council in enhancing its training and promotion efforts to attract more new entrants to the industry.  As at 2015, 18 000 semi-skilled workers have completed their training.  Government will continue to collaborate with the industry in upgrading practitioners' skills, putting in place a clear career ladder, improving the working environment, and ultimately increasing the manpower for the industry.

119.    The Earn and Learn Pilot Scheme for the Retail Industry has been implemented since 2014 to subsidise practitioners to enrol in diploma programmes and receive on-the-job training at the same time.  Joined by 50 retail brands, the scheme has been well-received by the industry.  It is expected that 1 500 practitioners will be trained.  With recognition under the Qualifications Framework, the scheme will raise professional standards and show a clear career path for participants, contributing to the sustainable development of the retail industry.

120.    Manpower shortage in the financial services industry is particularly pronounced in the insurance sector and the asset and wealth management sector.  Last year, I proposed to allocate $100 million to take forward a three-year pilot programme.  Starting from the latter half of this year, we shall provide financial subsidies to practitioners to attend training courses to enhance their professional knowledge and competency.  To attract more new blood to the financial services industry, we shall also offer university students internship opportunities to enhance their understanding of the job nature and career prospects of the sectors.