The Hong Kong Government has recently announced the official launch of the Alliance of Universities of Applied Sciences (the Alliance) to enhance co-operation between business and universities in nurturing career professionals. As one of the two universities of applied sciences (UAS) in Hong Kong, Saint Francis University (SFU) and the Education Services of Caritas - Hong Kong announced today the 'Vocational and Professional Education and Training Survey'. The survey shows that Vocational and Professional Education and Training (VPET) has gained wide support from stakeholders, and that the dual-track mode of VPET with the Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) examination has been recognised by more than 90% of the teachers and parents as having a positive impact on students' future career pathways, work ethic and professional morality. The project team described that the results reflect the effectiveness of the Education Bureau (EDB) in promoting VPET over the recent years, and that the organic integration of the Government, the business sector and the school sector will be the key to the success of VPET.
The survey was conducted from June to October 2024. Questionnaires from 715 students, 278 parents and 315 teachers were collected. Results shown that VPET was highly recognised and responsive to the needs of society and the market. Over 90% of the parents and teachers, and over 80% of the students agreed that VPET could facilitate employment, including equipping vocational skills, synchronising with future career, and effectively developing the required skills in the 21st century, including creativity, innovation and global vision.
In addition, more than 90% of parents and teachers, and more than 80% of students agreed that launching VPET at the secondary school in parallel with DSE can provide students with more choices for further studies, help them establish clearer goals in life, and boost their confidence in facing the challenges of society. Dr Andrew LOW, Associate Professor of the Felizberta Lo Padilla Tong School of Social Sciences, SFU, explained that VPET not only meets the needs of diversified students, but is also regarded as an important pathway for talent development, 'if relevant elements can be incorporated into the curriculum, it will be conducive to the future development of students.'
Apart from equipping skills for employment, professional virtues are also important. More than 90% of parents, teachers and students believe that the introduction of work ethics and professional virtues in VPET will help students to make positive contributions to the society and the industry in future. Dr Gerald WU, Director of Educational Services Division of Caritas – Hong Kong, stressed that 'Moral values are an integral part of VPET. Therefore, Caritas Education Services has always focus on nurturing virtuous talents and through various teaching activities and internships, emphasis is placed on the cultivation of work ethics and vocational morality, so as to enable students to become talented and virtuous people.
Dr Raymond KONG, Assistant Director of Educational Services Division of Caritas – Hong Kong, said that the survey results reflected that the Government had achieved certain results in promoting VPET, and that stakeholders and various sectors of the community were open to VPET. The establishment of the Alliance of UAS is a wonderful opportunity to enhance the breadth and depth of vocational education, which will not only promote the participation of more schools, but will also build a platform for collaboration between the Government, business and schools, so that students can have an in-depth learning experience.
Business engagement can broaden students' horizons through experience, as in the case of Chan, a Secondary 6 student of Caritas Ma On Shan Secondary School, who is a DSE candidate taking the Diploma in Practical Information and Communication Technology (DPICT) programme concurrently, and who passed the interview in the last academic year to join a one-month internship with AlipayHK. He applied his knowledge of user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) from the programme, combined it with market research, and consolidated ideas to improve the design of AlipayHK's app, as well as proposing a solution to the team for designing a music player programme that is different from the ones in the market. The internship has given him a clear direction for his future development, 'I've always been interested in STEM, but I didn't see it as a career path, but now I'm sure I want to pursue a career in technology,' he said.
To further enhance the integration between the Government, business and school, the project team recommends that the Government should continue with the strategy of 'industry-institution collaboration and diversified development', and adopt the 3A + 1M approach (Applied Knowledge, Applied Qualifications, Applied Skills, Work Ethics and Vocational Morality) to improve the curriculum, and to progressively offer more degree programmes to cater for the needs of the future society and technology; and at the same time, to strengthen the links with the Mainland and the Greater Bay Area market, and provide internships, experiential opportunities and grants to help students enhance their global vision and competitiveness by the business sector. Also, following the example of other education reform initiatives, the Centre of Excellence (CoE) in VPET should be set up to share good experiences in curriculum innovation, value cultivation and home-school-business co-operation with other schools.
On the same day, SFU and the Education Services of Caritas - Hong Kong also organised a conference on 'Multidimensional Growth Engines for Students through industry-institution collaboration', which gathered representatives from the business sector, the education sector and parents. The conference included a number of presentations and forums, among which the forum on 'Industry-institution Collaboration to Build Students' Future' focused on three core issues: work ethics and vocational morality, through-train articulation from secondary to tertiary education, and diversified entry and exit to broaden students' development pathways, so as to enable all sectors of the community to have a more comprehensive understanding of VPET.
Prof LO Tit Wing, Acting President of the SFU, is encouraged by the survey results, which reflect that parents, teachers and students of secondary schools have a positive perception of VPET, and that the majority of respondents agree that VPET can facilitate future employment, reflecting that the existing VPET meets the actual needs of the community and nurtures talents with practical experience and professional knowledge for various industries, thus enabling graduates of VPET to be competitive in the job market.
Prof LO suggested that SFU, as one of the two UAS in Hong Kong, would bring together the strengths of various VPET institutions through the Alliance in the future to strengthen local promotion and raise the status of VPET in the community. Professor Lo said he was pleased that the Government had all along been a strong supporter of VPET, and that the formal membership of the Alliance had to be a university. He considered that having a university status and a degree qualification would help to enhance the recognition of VPET.