Briefing session for public on application for Workplace English Training Grant
The Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR) today (29 March) invites participation in a free briefing session on workplace English training to be jointly organised with the Workplace English Campaign (WEC) on 1 April (Friday) at the Hong Kong Central Library.
"The briefing session will highlight Government's commitment in promoting workplace English training and the different means available for public to seek financial assistance on such training programmes. These means include WEC's Funding Scheme for Workplace English Training (Funding Scheme) and the Government's Continuing Education Fund (CEF)," a spokesperson for SCOLAR said.
The speakers at the briefing session include Secretary of SCOLAR Mr Billy Woo, Chief Executive Officer of the Office of Continuing Education Fund Ms Kitty Au-yeung, and Executive Assistant (Funding Scheme) of the Office of Workplace English Campaign Ms Tammy Wong, he added. They will introduce the latest developments of the schemes such as the provision of grant to organise in-house tailor-made English training programmes under the Funding Scheme, and points to note when applying for funds.
The briefing session will be held between 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. at the Lecture Theatre of the Hong Kong Central Library at Causeway Bay. As seats are limited, pre-registration has to be made on a first-come-first-served basis on the WEC website: http://www.english.gov.hk. The session will be conducted in Cantonese.
At the same time, WEC will stage a mini-expo to present more information on the Funding Scheme and CEF with staff to answer on-site enquiries. Information counters on workplace English training and examinations will also be set up by individual course providers and examination organisers.
The mini-expo to be held at the Exhibition Gallery 4 of the Hong Kong Central Library will be open for public admission from 12:00 noon to 6:00 p.m.
The Funding Scheme for Workplace English Training was launched in 2000 to subsidise employees who need to use English in the workplace to take the necessary training in order to attain the relevant benchmark of their job type by taking any of the international business English examinations specified by WEC.
As of end February, there are over 20 000 people who have successfully completed their training and attained the relevant benchmarks. The amount of grant reimbursed was nearly $35 million. Another 5 800 people are undergoing training which will incur an additional funding amount of $12 million.
CEF was launched in 2002 to provide subsidies for English training, among other job-related skills, for adults aged 18 to 60, with a maximum sum of $10,000.
WEC is one of the Language Fund projects steered by SCOLAR. SCOLAR was established in 1996 to advise the Government on language education issues and the use of the Language Fund.