The Vocational Training Council helps ease skilled manpower shortage by delivering the pilot launch of the Vocational Professionals Admission Scheme
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● The recently announced Vocational Professionals Admission Scheme (VPAS) targets secondary school graduates from Mainland China and around the world.
● Non-local students who complete their studies in the designated full-time Higher Diploma (HD) programmes, offered by the Vocational Training Council (VTC) and in five sectors selected by the Government, are eligible to apply for the scheme.
To alleviate the shortage of skilled labour in key local sectors, the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) unveiled the introduction of VPAS, a scheme tied to employment for the admission of talent, during his 2023 Policy Address.
The VTC has been assigned by the Government to advance VPAS on the Mainland and other countries/areas. The Council will also coordinate with relevant industries and Government Bureaux/Departments to prepare for the pilot launch of the scheme in the 2024/25 and 2025/26 academic years.
Recent developments have paved the way for the introduction of VPAS, says Alaina Shum, Deputy Executive Director of VTC. The Government will raise the admission quotas for non-local students in Government-funded post-secondary institutions from 20 percent to 40 percent starting from the 2024/25 academic year.Additionally, work has been underway for a mutual recognition system of cross-border sub-degree qualifications. According to the Policy Address, Hong Kong will collaborate with the relevant Mainland authorities to take forward the mutual recognition of sub-degree level qualification, including the Higher Diploma qualification, and try out such arrangements on a pilot basis.
Therefore, an increase is expected in the enrolment of non-local students in Hong Kong’s vocational and professional education and training (VPET) programmes, she says. VTC is one of the city’s largest providers of VPET programmes.
Non-local students who have successfully completed their studies in one of the 27…