MR YIU PAK-LEUNG (in Cantonese): Thank you, President. President, I rise to speak in support of Mr Dennis LEUNG’s original motion and the amendments proposed by the three Members.
The results of DSE (the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination) were released yesterday. Those who have attained satisfactory results should be happy, but those whose results are not quite so good should not be discouraged. As the saying goes, “All roads lead to Rome.” There are still many different pathways in Hong Kong. I believe many students and parents are still pondering over their programme choices, considering the idea of revising their order and their future options, as well as contemplating their future pathways.
In any case, it is an opportune moment today for us to discuss the motion on “Developing local vocational and professional education and training”. It can be said that this motion provides a timely opportunity for more parents and students to gain a deeper understanding and awareness of local vocational and professional education and training (“VPET”) and the prospects of VPET for young people.
In order to achieve satisfactory development of VPET, it is necessary for the Government to attach huge importance to it―I know the Education Bureau also attaches a great deal of importance to it―and apart from this, it also requires the recognition of society and parents and even favourable local conditions and manpower resources as support.
Hong Kong will be developing the Northern Metropolis in the medium to long term. Land supply in the area is sufficient, together with a comprehensive transport network and an inherent regional advantage of connecting to the Mainland. Speaking of industrial development, the area around Hung Shui Kiu/Ha Tsuen and San Tin is also home to many new modern logistics and innovation and technology industries. I believe enterprises’ demands for different types of talents are foreseeable in the future. In my opinion, in order for the 60-ha Northern Metropolis University Town to fulfil its function of promoting VPET, it is necessary to draw up manpower projections according to the pace of development and needs of various industries, give full play to the cluster effect of industries under sustainable development, and in particular, provide locally nurtured vocational professionals with satisfactory career pathways.
In the short run, I agree with a point in Ir LEE Chun-keung’s amendment, the point of “making better use of vacant school premises sites by converting them into vocational boarding schools or vocational schools” or related uses. In order to develop VPET, apart from recruiting local students, I hope that more overseas and Mainland students can be attracted to Hong Kong. In the process, we must resolve their accommodation needs, so that we can have more favourable conditions to attract more related talents to Hong Kong for further studies and employment.
As for “human resources support”, in recent years, various trades and industries in Hong Kong have yearned for vocational professionals, and the development of VPET is also a good opportunity to bring enterprises and aspiring students together. For example, in Germany, nearly 20% of the companies participated in the dual-track vocational education system in 2020. Its business sector spent HK$250 billion on internships and training while the German government even spent as much as HK$400 billion, which accounted for 1% of the local GDP (Gross Domestic Product). Of course, a comparison of the amounts may not be very meaningful, but the Government can draw reference from the working relationship between the German government and enterprises. At the initial stage, the Government may solicit assistance from sizeable enterprises and provide them with business incentives, so as to increase corporate involvement in VPET and ensure that the whole process from the planning of curriculum design, training, internship to formal employment can better align with industries’ uniqueness from the angle of corporate operation, while also providing parents and students with full confidence in trying the learning-by-doing approach. In addition to earning wages, they can also provide enterprises with manpower which is currently in short supply and very costly.
I believe that through continuous investment of resources for improving VPET and providing more career pathways for students, we can enhance the confidence of parents and students in VPET and enable them to understand that VPET is not about a choice between superiority and inferiority or a tool to classify students into different grades and ranks; rather, it is a desirable option enabling young people to unleash their potentials, develop their strengths and better prepare themselves for career development.
President, although the Secretary for Labour and Welfare is not present, I still wish to go after him for something he owes me. Last year, the Labour and Welfare Bureau announced the implementation of the Vocational Professionals Admission Scheme (“VPAS”) on a trial basis from the 2024-2025 academic year to the 2025-2026 academic year, and it would cover 27 full-time higher diploma programmes offered by the Vocational Training Council. While the scheme has met with enthusiastic response, it does not cover hotel and tourism programmes. I hope the Secretary can still remember his promise to me in November last year that he would explore the inclusion of various full-time programmes on hotel and tourism in VPAS, so that we can have an additional channel to nurture vocational professionals for the industry.
With these remarks, President, I support the motion.