The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government will work with employers, employees and industries to enhance local human capital quality by providing multiple development opportunities, a Hong Kong official said here Tuesday.

Officiating at a Skills Upgrading Scheme Industry Working Groups luncheon, Deputy Secretary for Education and Manpower Edward Yau said the scheme covers 20 industries and has conducted over 400 courses with 100,000 trainees since its launch in September 2001.

To track its effectiveness, a three-year research exercise was launched in 2001 and the findings found that over 90 percent of trainee respondents, three months after training, considered the courses helpful in improving their vocational skills, confidence and adaptability to work, while 77 percent felt the courses aroused their interest in continuing education. Similar results were obtained one year after training.

Yau said, with the establishment of a seven-level cross-sectoral Qualifications Framework and its associated quality assurance mechanism, it will help set out clearly the standards of different qualifications to ensure quality, and indicate the articulation ladder between different qualifications, so people can draw up their own roadmaps, set clear goals and directions to upgrade their skills and knowledge to obtain relevant qualifications.

Noting industry support is essential to the successful implementation of the framework, Yau said the government will conduct extensive consultations with the industry.

Source: Xinhua