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Following is a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, to a question by the Hon James To on Continuing Education Fund in the Legislative Council today (November 7):
Question:
The English Language College closed down suddenly on 21 September this year. Some affected students have approached me for assistance regarding matters about the recovery of tuition fees, subsidies under the Continuing Education Fund ("CEF") and their failure to complete the courses concerned. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council :
(a) apart from publishing on the related websites information on recognized courses and course providers, whether the authorities have increased the channels for releasing such information to facilitate easier public access to the latest information;
(b) apart from the improvement measures proposed at the meeting of the Legislative Council Panel on Manpower on 17 May this year, whether the authorities will consider implementing other measures to enhance the strictness of the vetting process for CEF-recognized courses, particularly over the monitoring of the financial situation of the relevant providers and quality assurance of the courses; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c) apart from issuing written warnings to providers which operate CEF courses in inappropriate ways and de-registering the courses concerned from the list of "reimbursable courses", whether the authorities will consider examining, in conjunction with relevant government departments, the formulation of other penalties with deterrent effect against such malpractices?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) To safeguard the interest of learners and to facilitate their selection of courses registered under the Continuing Education Fund (CEF courses) that suit their needs, the Office of CEF (OCEF) has all along uploaded onto the CEF website detailed information about the CEF courses, as well as courses which have been de-registered from the CEF. Such information is also updated on a regular basis. CEF applicants are encouraged to visit the CEF website for the latest information, or ring up the OCEF for any enquires before enrolling into any of the CEF courses.
To facilitate more expeditious dissemination of information on courses which have been de-registered due to non-compliance with the conditions of approval, the Administration will further strengthen the mechanism for releasing such information. In future, we will make known publicly our decision to de-register any CEF course through the issue of press release, in addition to updating the CEF website in the first instance, to remind the public of the need to be careful in their selection of CEF courses.
We have since early November this year launched a new series of publicity programme, including Announcement of Public Interest on television and mini-documentaries, etc. to remind the public that they should find out more about individual CEF courses and make more comparison before they enroll into any particular courses.
(b) The Administration has maintained the quality of the CEF courses and safeguarded learners' interest through the established assessment and quality assurance mechanism. Course providers wishing to apply for registration of their courses under the CEF are required to submit their applications to the Hong Kong Council of Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ) for assessment. The HKCAAVQ will examine as to whether a course fall within the specified domains(*1) and look into such areas as course content, the instructor's qualifications, teaching methodology, quality assurance policy and procedures etc., having regard to the competency requirements and other guidelines as suggested by industry representatives. The HKCAAVQ will then make a recommendation to the Administration as to whether an application for course registration under the CEF should be approved.
Given that the nature of the above assessment is different from accreditation(*2), the existing process that focuses primarily on the content and delivery of individual courses may not have accorded sufficient emphasis to examining the overarching governance of and quality assurance mechanism adopted by the course providers. Against this background, the Administration has, following the latest review on the CEF completed in May 2007, proposed an improvement through the introduction of the Qualification Framework and new courses to be registered under the CEF henceforth will have to undergo a formal accreditation procedure.
As a matter of fact, the Administration has also been monitoring CEF courses closely to ensure that they are operating in compliance with the approval conditions. CEF courses are subject to regular audit inspections, including surprise inspections, by the HKCAAVQ to see to it that they are operating up to the quality and standards required. Besides, a "risk-based approach" has also been adopted in conducting inspections so as to further enhance their effectiveness.
(c) The Administration actively follows up suspected cases of non-compliance with CEF approval conditions or other problematic cases. A course provider who has not operated its CEF course(s) in compliance with the CEF approval conditions is first issued with a warning. Thereafter, the Administration will continue to follow up the case and monitor the situation closely. If the non-compliance continues, we will consider de-registering the relevant courses. In the event that a course provider is found to be involved in illegal operations such as conspiracy to default, bribery etc., the OCEF will refer the case to the Police or the Independent Commission Against Corruption for necessary follow-up action.
(*1) As present, the eight specified domains under the CEF are business services, financial services, logistics, tourism, creative industry, design, language and interpersonal and intrapersonal skills for the workplace.
(*2) Accreditation is a quality assurance process whereby the academic or vocational standard of the course and other aspects including the governance and management structure of the provider, the quality assurance mechanism, teaching and supporting facilities, etc. will be thoroughly examined.
Ends/Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Issued at HKT 14:45
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