MR CHAN KIN-POR (in Cantonese): President, in the past, vocational education in Hong Kong had been quite successful. However, as we all know, vocational education is intricately linked to the social and economic environment. Since Hong Kong has become an international financial centre, and there has been a decline in industry, vocational education has become less and less important and transformation is even required. Parents hope that their children can go to university as they have the idea that “blue-collar workers will not have a bright future”. Nevertheless, the time has changed. After years of development, Hong Kong’s economy has reached its maturity, and there is even a decline in its competitiveness. University graduates are no longer the cream of society, instead, mastering certain skills would be a greater assurance to livelihood.
Today, many Members have offered specific proposals on strengthening vocational education, many of them are insightful, and many colleagues have cited Germany as an example. In fact, when we talk about vocational education, we have to mention Germany as the country is world renowned for its vocational education. In Germany, 48% of students enrol in vocational education programmes. The high percentage is due to the successful implementation of vocational education, as well as the respect of vocational education in society, treating university graduates on a par with vocational education graduates.
Undoubtedly, today most parents in Hong Kong still hope that their children can go to university, and they even think that only students with unsatisfactory academic results would study vocational education programmes. As a matter of fact, they may not fully understand the development of society. Hong Kong has entered into an economic maturity period, meaning that the opportunities for upward mobility for young people have decreased drastically. Even if young people manage to enter university, they have to face the situation of insufficient job opportunities after graduation, and there is no guarantee for their future. Even if they can find a suitable job, the salary may not be up to their expectation. This situation is very common.
I believe one of the possible reasons for Germany to be so successful in its vocational education is that the economy of Europe has long reached its maturity, there is little chance of upward mobility for young people and the unemployment rate of young people in some European countries has always been on the very high side. In Europe, young people understand that traditional university education can no longer guarantee good jobs, instead they can master a skill through vocational education. If vocational education can follow closely with the development of the labour market, graduates can easily get a job. Furthermore, in Germany, workers of many front-line technical positions have been turned into professional technicians. Even general technicians have to sit for professional examinations and wear professional overalls. They work in a clean and tidy environment and have wide varieties of pathways for further studies. Hence, in respect of image or career prospects, the society as a whole have confidence and local students are willing to receive vocational education.
In fact, in a society there must be some people who are not accustomed to the traditional way of teaching. These people must be unhappy if they are forced to attend traditional schools. As a result, it is just a waste of time for them. If vocational education can inspire them to have interest in work, it would be beneficial to them as well as to society. At present, Hong Kong people have gradually come to understand that except for a small number of elites, the career prospects for university graduates may not necessarily be good. If we can learn from Germany by upgrading technical jobs into professional levels and providing pathways for further studies, for example, maintenance technicians can be promoted to engineers through further studies, I think many parents would encourage their children to receive vocational education.
In addition, in order to attract students to accept vocational education, subjects that tally with the development of the labour market should be provided. Any subjects, no matter how good they are, may not be useful if they do not meet the needs of the market. At present, Hong Kong has only a rather narrow range of industries focusing on finance, real estate, professional services, service and trading. This poses a great restriction on the development of vocational education. In order to enhance Hong Kong’s competitiveness and provide Hong Kong people with more quality job opportunities, it is necessary for us to redress the imbalance in the industrial structure and introduce more varieties of industries that enjoy clear advantages. For instance, we have been talking about innovative technology for years, and the concept of re-industrialization has also been mentioned. I have proposed time and again that the Government should further promote the development of headquarters economy with the aim of bringing in more jobs with international outlook and allowing young people to have more choices. On the whole, in order to develop vocational education, we have to strengthen the development of other industries and increase various kinds of job positions. Otherwise, judging from the current situation, it is hard for vocational education to be a success.
At the same time, players of various industries should also offer their support. Apart from maintaining close communication with the vocational education authorities, they can also providing on-the-job training and internship opportunities. For instance, the insurance industry has worked with the Government to implement the Pilot Programme to Enhance Talent Training, which includes items such as work-and-learn programmes and professional training, with the aim of training more professional talents, such as professional personnel on marine insurance. The input from industries is in fact a critical step. I hope that more industries can join similar pilot programmes to enhance talent training and this can slowly be turned into an institutionalized vocational education.
I so submit.