Following is a question by the Hon Chan Yung and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, in the Legislative Council today (April 30):

Question:

     Regarding the Continuing Education Fund (CEF), will the Government inform this Council:

(1) as some members of the public have relayed that the tuition fees for certain CEF reimbursable courses are significantly higher than the average tuition fees for other comparable courses in the market, whether the authorities will require course providers to submit detailed cost breakdowns for the courses they offer and to be subject to independent audits;

(2) whether any course providers have been de-registered from the reimbursable course list under CEF in the past five years due to issues such as course content not being relevant to professional skills training or tuition fees being excessively high; if so, of the specific details (including the types of courses involved); and

(3) as there are views that some CEF reimbursable courses have low relevance to professional skills, whether the authorities will consider prioritising the allocation of CEF's resources to skills-based courses which align with the key areas of economic development, such as new industrialisation, innovation and technology development and artificial intelligence, or tightening the vetting and approval of subsidies for courses that obviously focus on interests rather than employability skills, so as to prevent abuse of CEF?

Reply:

President,

     The Continuing Education Fund (CEF) subsidises Hong Kong residents aged 18 or above with aspirations to pursue continuing education and choose courses that suit their needs having regard to their interests and competencies, with a view to enhancing their personal competiveness to meet the needs for globalisation and Hong Kong's economic development. Since its establishment in 2002, the CEF has undergone a number of enhancements to its operation, with various quality assurance measures and safeguards for learners' interests introduced. The scope of courses is also on continuous expansion, thereby diversifying citizens' choices and encouraging lifelong learning. To ensure that training courses would better meet market needs and quality standards, starting from April 2019, all CEF reimbursable courses (CEF courses) must be registered under the Qualifications Register (QR), i.e. they have received professional accreditation from the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications or a self-accrediting tertiary institution. There are at present over 4 500 CEF courses, which are classified by the 14 areas of study and training registered under the QR, Specification of Competency Standards and Specification of Generic (Foundation) Competencies. These courses are offered by over 120 course providers, covering areas such as computer science and information technology; business and management; and engineering and technology.

     The Government has been encouraging course providers to design and offer new courses and apply for registration under the CEF to meet market development and needs. Many of the CEF courses newly added in recent years are relevant to the business and contents of Hong Kong's positioning as the "eight centres" under the 14th Five-Year Plan. For example, in the field of innovation technology (I&T), as at the end of March 2025, over 30 CEF courses are related to artificial intelligence (AI), assisting learners in acquiring relevant emerging skills.

     In addition to CEF courses which cover a wide range of subjects, relevant policy bureaux have also implemented various training measures specifically for the pillar and priority industries of Hong Kong. For I&T, according to the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau, the Innovation and Technology Commission is supporting enterprises and research institutions in cultivating technology talents through the Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF). To encourage the manufacturing industry to upgrade and transform through the use of I&T, and to promote the development of new industrialisation in Hong Kong, the New Industrialisation and Technology Training Programme under the ITF subsidises local enterprises on a Government:enterprise (2:1) matching basis to train their staff in advanced technologies, especially those relating to new industrialisation and AI.

     It is the responsibility of course providers to manage their CEF courses. The Government does not approve the course fees nor require course providers to submit information on the cost of offering their courses. The information on course fees submitted for CEF course registration is only used for the purpose of calculating learners' claims for CEF subsidies. Given the large number of CEF courses and course providers, citizens interested in applying for CEF subsidies to pursue studies have ample choices. To enhance transparency and facilitate learners to make informed choices, the Government also uploads the information on course fees of all CEF courses to the CEF's website for public access. Based on the median CEF course fee of $7,965 as at the end of March 2025, the CEF subsidy ceiling of $25,000 is sufficient for learners to enrol in at least two to three CEF courses. Additionally, under the CEF's mechanism of co-payment ratio, for the first $10,000 of the subsidy learners have to cover 20 per cent of the course fee, while for the remaining $15,000 of the subsidy learners have to cover 40 per cent of the course fee. The mechanism of co-payment ratio ensures that learners would select courses prudently, and at the time prevents course providers from arbitrarily raising the course fees in response to adjustment to the subsidy ceiling. We consider that the existing arrangements can still meet the demand. We will continue to keep in view the operation of the CEF and the views of stakeholders, and consider the need to review the existing arrangements as appropriate.

     CEF course providers must comply with the CEF terms and conditions, which cover the course fees charging and refund mechanisms, quality assurance, and regulation of marketing practices, etc. The Labour and Welfare Bureau (LWB) and the Working Family and Student Financial Assistance Agency would conduct post-registration inspections to monitor the operations and quality of CEF courses and the course providers. In the event of breaches of any CEF terms and conditions by course providers, the Government will issue written warnings or reprimands to the course providers concerned. In cases of serious or persistent violations, the registrations of the CEF courses may be terminated or suspended. The circumstances mentioned in question (2) are not governed by the CEF terms and conditions, and hence no CEF course has been de-registered as a result.

     The LWB will continue to monitor the operation of the CEF and is open to suggestions on optimising its operation and consolidation of local training resources.

Ends/Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Issued at HKT 11:12

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