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The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) government plans to allocate 67.1 billion HK dollars(8.61 billion U.S. dollars) for the recurrent expenditure on education in 2014--2015 budget year, Financial Secretary John Tsang said on Wednesday.
Tsang delivered his second annual budget speech to the SAR's lawmakers at Legislative Council, stressing that spending on education takes up the largest share of recurrent government expenditure, an increase of nearly 80 percent over that of 1997- 1998 budget year.
Although a general rise in the education level of the workforce helps the Hong Kong's market to move towards a high value-added model, there remains a manpower mismatch and relatively high youth unemployment rate that the government need to address, Tsang said.
The secretary warned that shortage of manpower hampers the development of certain industries in Hong Kong. Labor shortage in the construction sector, for instance, would affect the delivery of infrastructure projects.
To ensure Hong Kong's manpower resources can meet the needs of economic development, Tsang said in the budget speech that the government has to specifically strengthen life planning, vocational education and training for the youth.
The SAR government's Vocational Training Council(VTC) will launch a pilot training and support scheme to attract new entrants for industries with keen demand for labor, under which structured apprenticeship training programs will be integrated with clear career progression pathways, Tsang said.
The 2,000 apprentices joining the scheme will receive an allowance from government and the industries.Meanwhile, the Education Bureau(EDB) will strengthen support to schools to enrich and enhance career guidance service and life planning education to enable students to realize their potential.
In compliance with the government's last budget, the Task Force on Manpower Development of the Retail Industry was set up to study the outlook of the retail industry and its manpower demand and supply.
Tsang said the government has accepted the Task Force's recommendations and will allocate 130 million HK dollars for their implementation, including the funding support for retailers to increase productivity.
"We will also assist the VTC in strengthening its vocational education and training with reference to the specifications of competency standards for the retail industry that was newly drawn up under the Qualifications Framework(QF)," he said.
"We shall seek closer collaboration with tertiary institutions and the industry to bring I.T. education more in line with the needs of the industry, and shall step up publicity about the contribution made by I.T. to our society and economy to enhance the profession's image," Tsang said.
To encourage continuous learning among practitioners in Hong Kong, the EDB plans to establish an endowment fund of 1 billion HK dollars to support the sustainable development of the QF, benefiting both employees and employers, education and training providers, assessment agencies and quality assurance bodies, Tsang said.
The Hong Kong government has been approved by the Legislative Council to allocate a total of 15 billion HK dollars as part of a long-term support for employee's trainings, including offering 130, 000 training places and services for those aged 15 or above with education attainment at sub-degree level or below.
Resources have also been reserved to provide an additional 40, 000 places to meet the potential demand from the employment market, according to Tsang's speech.
The secretary stressed that apart from encouraging young people to join these industries, attracting from abroad talents and workers not available in Hong Kong will also help maintain the city's competitiveness.
"I hope that employers, employees and the community will work towards solutions to the workforce shortage problems through candid and open discussions." Tsang said.
