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Following is a question by the Hon Cheung Man-kwong and an oral reply by the Secretary for the Civil Service, Miss Denise Yue, on recognition of associate degree qualification for civil service appointment in the Legislative Council today (May 14):
Question:
The Report of the Phase 2 Review of the Post Secondary Education Sector recommended that "the Government should continue to take the lead in enhancing recognition for Associate Degree (AD) qualification". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) among the people employed in various government departments over the past three years, of the number and percentage of those whose highest qualifications were sub-degree (including AD and Higher Diploma (HD)) qualifications, together with a breakdown by details of their employment, including the employing departments, positions held, entry requirements, starting salaries and modes of appointment (e.g. on contract or permanent terms);
(b) of the respective numbers of such employees with AD and HD qualifications; and
(c) whether it has assessed why some government departments have employed fewer AD graduates; if it has, of the assessment results; if not, the reasons for that; and of the other measures to enhance recognition for AD qualification?
Reply:
Madam President,
During the past three years (i.e. from 2005/06 to 2007/08), government departments and grades have conducted a total of more than 280 recruitment exercises. In addition, Hong Kong Police Force and the Fire Services Department accept applications all year round. In these past three years, more than 8,000 civil service new recruits have been appointed. The Civil Service Bureau has not kept statistics on new appointees on the basis of their academic or other qualifications.
In addition, subject to meeting the relevant regulations and if necessary, departments have the discretion in the recruitment of non-civil service contract (NCSC) staff. Recruiting departments also do not keep statistics on newly recruited NCSC staff on the basis of their academic or other qualifications. As recruitment of NCSC staff is managed by departments individually, Civil Service Bureau does not have the statistics on NCSC staff recruited in the past three years.
Due to the above factors, it will be time-consuming and will require much manpower to conduct a survey on the number of AD and HD holders appointed by the Government as civil servants and NCSC staff in the past three years. We are therefore not able to provide the statistics required. We are also not able to assess the employment situation of AD graduates by individual departments.
The civil service appointment policy is to select civil service or NCSC staff to fill vacancies through an open, fair and competitive process. Any person who meets the basic entry requirements of the post concerned may apply for appointment. The recruiting departments would then select suitable candidates through a competitive selection process on the basis of the candidates' ability, experience, performance in written examinations and/or interviews, etc. Hence, there are many factors leading to a candidate's failure in being appointed by government departments.
As for civil service appointment, AD qualification is accepted as broadly equivalent to HD qualification. At present, 13 grades which set HD as entry qualification requirement also accept AD qualification. In addition, AD graduates may also apply for government posts requiring academic qualifications below sub-degree level, such as two passes at Advanced Level in Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination (HKALE) plus three credits in Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE) (2'A'3'O') or School Certificate levels. AD graduates will also be accepted for application for posts requiring a diploma/higher certificate/certificate in a specialised field if the AD qualification is in the same or relevant field. In sum, there are more than 70 other grades which also accept applications from AD graduates. Besides, AD holders appointed to disciplined services officer ranks with multiple entry points are remunerated at entry points higher than those for matriculation or below.
As recommended by the "Report on Phase 2 Review of the Post-secondary Education Sector", the Government will continue to take the lead in enhancing recognition for AD qualification. We will articulate to the public that AD qualification is accepted as broadly equivalent to HD, and AD graduates may apply for government posts requiring academic qualifications at or below HD level. In addition, we will work with bureaux/departments to explore if more posts or grades may accept AD qualifications as entry requirement so as to enhance the job opportunities for AD holders.
According to the Education Bureau (EDB), there are about 26 professional bodies recognising sub-degree qualification, such as financial services, logistics and information technology professional bodies, etc. EDB will continue to intensify publicity efforts in conjunction with the post-secondary institutions, and through benchmarking AD qualification against the Qualification Framework (i.e. Level Four which is between matriculation at Level Three and bachelor degree at Level Five), to enhance the recognition of AD qualification. EDB will also encourage institutions to engage in dialogues with professional bodies, employers' federations and the business sector in the curriculum development and internship arrangements so as to enhance employers' understanding and recognition of the AD qualification. In addition, EDB will also conduct regular employer opinion surveys and tracking surveys to examine the progression pathways of AD holders and to gauge the opinions of employers on their performance.
Ends/Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Issued at HKT 14:16
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