**************************************************
The Skills Enhancement Project specially designed for sectors hard-hit by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)has received encouraging response. More than 9,000 eligible applications have been received after application closed on May 24. The first batch of some 5,500 successful applicants will commence training on June 2.
The $150-million project provides training places for unemployed workers in the catering, retail, hotel and tourism sectors or workers in these sectors who are temporarily suspended from employment without pay.
"Successful applicants will be informed of the result in writing within this week by the Employees Retraining Board (ERB) which co-ordinates the project. Their ID card numbers will be uploaded to the special website for this project at http://sep.erb.org and published in Ming Pao on May 29 (Thursday) for quick checking of application results," a Government spokesman said today (May 26).
"As there are still places available for the tourism industry, we have decided to extend the application deadline for the integrated course for this sector and the integrated training course for tour guides to May 28 (Wednesday). Applications from coach drivers who mainly receive inbound tourists will also be flexibly considered for admission to the integrated course for tourism," he said.
The application form and an information leaflet on the project are available for collection at the ERB Office, job centres of the Labour Department, district offices of the Home Affairs Department and about 100 participating training centres. They can also be downloaded from the above website and the Labour Department's website (www.info.gov.hk/labour). Applications should be made in person to designated training centers. Enquiries can be made to the special telephone hotline at 183 3113.
The project, which will be conducted in two phases, aims to enable employees in the affected sectors to make the best use of their time to enhance themselves by providing skills improvement and upgrading courses, thereby further equipping them to re-enter their industry when the economy revives. It comprises two components, namely trade-specific skills enhancement training and complementary generic training which is applicable to all industries, each lasting for four weeks (20 days/120 hours).
Phase I of the skills enhancement training, the capacity of which has been increased from 5,000 to 5,565 to enable more people to begin their training earlier, will begin in June. It includes integrated courses on customer services for Chinese catering (attendant) and on kitchen services for Chinese catering (chef), integrated courses for retail, hotel and tourism industries, and integrated tour guide training course.
This will be followed by complementary generic training in July, comprising four modular training on soft skills (such as job search skills, presentation and communication skills, team building and first aid, etc), English training (basic and higher level), Putonghua and basic computer training.
Phase II of the skills enhancement training will commence in July and be followed by generic training in August.
All training courses are free of charge and each trainee will receive a special allowance at a rate of $200 per day of actual attendance for up to $4,000 per month during the whole period. Payment will be made by two instalments of every four weeks of training completed, subject to at least a 90 percent attendance rate of each component.
End/Monday, May 26, 2003
NNNN
