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Expo to Boost Youth Employment Opens in HK
A two-day expo aimed to promote the Youth Pre-employment Training Program (YPTP) opened in Hong Kong Saturday.
The Labor Department, organizer of the program, hopes the expo will enhance visitors' understanding on the program, which was launched last year and has received positive response.
"A comprehensive survey on the YPTP conducted this April revealed that over 90 percent of the trainees considered the program worthwhile," said Secretary for Education and Manpower Fanny Law at the opening ceremony.
The program enabled participants to better understand the real situations at work and the true demands of employers, thus helping them to adapt to the changes from learning in schools to working in the society, Law said.
She said that the effectiveness of the YPTP should not depend solely on the placement rate of participants as no training course would guarantee employment.
"In fact, the program's success hinged on whether participants could grasp this opportunity to add value to themselves," Law said.
About 4,000 trainees in the program for 1999-2000 has secured employment, which constituted some 37 percent of the total number of trainees. As reporting was voluntary, the actual number of trainees who successfully found a job would be higher than this figure, according to Commissioner for Labor Pamela Tan Kam Mi-wah.
The program for 2000-2001, offered free of charge, is expected to benefit an estimated 12,000 school leavers aged between 15 and 19 in two phases, with the first phase to be started on October 16.
The Finance Committee of the Legislative Council has approved 246 million HK dollars (US$31.5 million) for the YPTP in the coming two year.
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