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Following is a question by the Hon Ip Kwok-him and a reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Dr Patrick Ho, in the Legislative Council today (January 14):
Questions:
It has been reported that the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) has decided not to renew the employment of its course instructors aged over 60 so as to bring the retirement age of course instructors employed on agreement terms in line with that of civil servants. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of course instructors employed by LCSD who will soon reach the age of 60 as well as the types of courses in which they are engaged, and the other government departments which also set the retirement age for their contract staff;
(2) whether it will consider not applying the above retirement age to the course instructors employed by LCSD on agreement terms; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3) whether, apart from age, other factors such as the health of the instructors concerned will be taken into account by LCSD in deciding whether or not to renew the employment of its course instructors who are over, at or will soon reach the age of 60?
Reply:
Madam President,
Thank you for the questions raised by the Hon Ip Kwok-him. As Mr Ip has made enquiries to the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) about the age of part-time Tai Chi instructors employed on contract terms by the Department and requested for follow-up action, I will focus on explaining the arrangements for employing instructors of recreation and sports training programmes.
In order to promote sport-for-all, the LCSD organises a wide variety of recreation and sports training courses to provide opportunities for people of different ages to learn and participate in sports so that they may develop an interest in sports and take up regular exercise or join suitable progressive training courses according to their physical conditions and interest. By so doing, the physical well-being of the community can be enhanced and the aim of promoting sports can be achieved.
At present, there are 4 546 qualified instructors of recreation and sports training programmes registered with the LCSD. Among them, 4 177 are below the age of 60. Any person aged 18 or above who has completed intensive training programmes offered by the respective national sports associations and holds of a valid and recognised instructor certificate, can apply to the LCSD as a registered coach for recreation and sports training programmes. The LCSD currently employs 2 537 coaches on contract terms, among them 2 382 are below the age of 60. Various training programmes being offered by LCSD are held as central courses. To hire coaches for these programmes, the Department will select suitable coaches from the Register by considering the preferred district of the candidates, their past performance and availability for the schedule of the programmes. The candidates selected will be offered part-time employment on a fixed-term contract basis.
Since its establishment in 2000, the LCSD has employed part-time instructors of training programmes according to the non-civil service contract terms set out by the Civil Service Bureau in early 1999. Some of these employment criteria include: the salaries, emolument and other conditions of service offered to non-civil service contract part-time staff should not be more favourable than those to civil servants. As the LCSD's instructors are employed under short-term part-time mode, the question of retirement age does not exist. However, the Department will still make reference to the retirement age of civil servant, i.e. the age of 60, as the age ceiling for part-time instructors. Meanwhile, the Department has previously received a number of enquiries and opinions from registered instructors who claimed that they were not offered employment opportunity though having waited for a long time. Therefore, starting from the end of 2003, the Department no longer renews the employment contract of part-time instructors aged 60 or above so as to provide more job opportunities for those younger qualified instructors and to reduce their waiting time. However, the Department will, depending on operational needs, consider employing registered instructors aged 60 or above on the list when no suitable instructors aged below 60 are willing to accept the job.
Now I would like to reply to the three questions raised by the Hon Ip Kwok-him one by one as follows:
(1) At present, there are 2 537 people who have entered into part-time instructor contracts with the LCSD. Among them, only 155 are aged 60 or above and 13 of them are aged 59. These relatively older instructors are mainly instructors of Tai Chi while some others are instructors of gateball or lawn bowl etc. As far as I know, the criteria regarding the employment of non-civil service contract (NCSC) staff as stated above are also adopted by other government departments. However, I do not have the specific data in hand on the employment of NCSC staff aged above 60 by other departments.
(2) We will continue to comply with the above criteria of employing NCSC staff and will take into consideration the operational needs of the Department when appointing part-time instructors for the various recreation and sports training programmes of the LCSD. For example, at present there are a total of 941 eligible Tai Chi instructors on the list of the LCSD. Among them, 244 are aged 60 or above. For the remaining 697 registered instructors aged below 60, only 149 of them have been offered appointment, with the remaining 548 on the list still awaiting to be appointed. The LCSD will continue to take into account the arrangement of civil servants retiring at the age of 60 and appoint part-time instructors aged below 60. However, the Department will appoint registered instructors aged 60 or above when no suitable instructors aged below 60 are willing to accept the job.
(3) When appointing part-time instructors, the LCSD will take into account the following factors:
i. the requirements of the course;
ii. whether the appointed instructor is on the list of qualified instructors of the Department;
iii. the appointed instructor's preference for the districts where the courses are held;
iv. the past performance of the appointed instructor; and
v. the above criteria regarding the employment of NCSC staff.
Thank you.
Ends/Wednesday, January 14, 2004
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