The Vocational Training Council (VTC) advises the Government on measures required to ensure a comprehensive system of vocational education and training suited to the development and manpower needs of Hong Kong.

Vocational education and training services are provided at:

			The Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (IVE)
			The Youth College (YC)
			The School of Business and Information Systems (SBI)
			The Institute of Professional Education and Knowledge (PEAK)
			Training and Development Centres.

The VTC also institutes, develops and operates various schemes for training operatives, craftsmen, technicians and technologists (including the Apprenticeship Scheme) to sustain and improve industry, commerce and services.

The Institute of Vocational Education offers courses at higher technician, technician and craft levels leading to the awards of higher diploma, higher certificate, diploma and certificate etc. The Youth College mainly offers Diploma in Vocational Studies courses for Secondary 3 and Secondary 5 school leavers.

The education and training provided aims to lay a foundation for students’ continued personal and professional development and to prepare them for employment and/or further education. In the 2007-08 academic year, more than 43,000 students were enrolled in full-time courses and nearly 27,000 in part-time courses offered at IVE and YC.

Over the same period, over 35,000 full-time, part-time and self-study places were offered in the 15 Training and Development Centres of the VTC which provide basic and upgrading courses for trainees at all levels.

Distance Learning

Distance learning has become a popular mode of study in Hong Kong in recent years.

The Open University of Hong Kong is the major local distance learning service provider, which has provided over 100,000 people with educational opportunities. Each year, the university adds over 2,000 graduates to the workforce.

Over 70 overseas institutions from different countries, including the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, Singapore, China and Macau have been actively collaborating with local tertiary institutions, or through local agencies and representative offices, to provide distance learning courses in Hong Kong to meet the strong and growing demand for distance learning programmes from Hong Kong students.

The Open University of Hong Kong and overseas institutions currently offer more than 2,000 different types of distance learning programmes, ranging from certificate and diploma levels through to doctorate qualifications.

Courses include:

			Business and commerce
			Computing
			Science and technology
			Arts
			Tourism and hospitality
			Nursing
			Engineering
			Social science
			Architecture
			Education
			Languages
			Law
			Fashion.

Training

The demand for training for both corporate and Hong Kong government organisations is met by local and international training organisations.  Over 3,000 training organisations are registered in Hong Kong.

Number of students undertaking Vocational Education and Training

School leavers from Secondary 3 to Secondary 7 can enrol on vocational education programmes provided by the Vocational Training Council and other VET providers.

The following table uses figures from the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority in 2008. The HKCEE is the exam that students normally take at the end of their five year secondary education.

	Vocational education	HKCEE candidate entries	% of students studying vocational education training
Student numbers	57,448	109,574	53.43

Vocational Training Council statistics for the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education/ Hong Kong Design Institute/School of Business and Information Systems/Youth College

No. of new students admitted - analysis by mode (2007-08-2008-09)
	2007-08	2008-09
Full-time courses	20 341	20 205
Part-time (day) courses	1 512	1 383
Part-time (evening) courses	7 311	6 356
Total	29 164	27 944

Vocational Training Council statistics for the Hospitality Industry Training and Development Centre/Chinese Cuisine Training Institute/Maritime Services Training Institute/Training and Development Centres Statistics

No. of trainees on roll at the end of the admission period – analysis by mode (2006-07-2007-08)
	2006-07	2007-08
Full-time long courses	2 835	2 531
Full-time short courses	6 772	5 829
Part-time (day) courses	13 712	12 558
Part-time (evening) courses	8 140	6 532
Self-study courses	926	834
Total	32 385	28 284