The Government today (July 10) announced the competency requirements and application details for the sector "Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Skills for the Workplace" (IISW) under the Continuing Education Fund (CEF).

"Course providers who wish to have their courses registered on the list of reimbursable courses for the IISW sector are invited to submit proposals to Education and Manpower Bureau (EMB) for consideration," an EMB spokesman said.

"During our consultation with various Industry Focus Groups, it is widely recognised that in order to be successful in the workplace of the 21st century, one needs more than professional skills. Soft skills, including problem-solving, communication, team-work, leadership and positive work attitudes, are essential to prepare our workforce for the move to a knowledge-based economy," he said.

"When the CEF was launched on June 1, six tailor-made IISW courses designed by the Outward Bound Hong Kong, renowned in personal enhancement training, have been included in the list of reimbursable courses to allow applicants an initial choice of courses in this area," he added.

Due to the uniqueness of this sector, a Supervisory Committee, chaired by Dr. Choi Yuen-wan, Chairman of the Youth Commission, has been set up to define the competency requirements and assessment criteria for courses of this sector.

The Committee agreed that IISW courses should be experiential education in soft skills with practical application. A reimbursable course should be designed to cover all three main components of the competency group: (1) life skills, (2) working with others, and (3) values and attitudes.

The minimum duration for a reimbursable course is 40 hours, including at least two blocks of 16 hours with overnight stay. Training providers are also encouraged to form alliances in order to deliver a complete programme.

Proposals received by EMB will be examined by an assessment panel, which will make recommendations to Secretary for Education and Manpower before courses are to be added to the list of reimbursable courses under the CEF.

On the latest progress of the CEF, the spokesman said that public response has been very encouraging.

"So far, we have already received over 1 600 applications for the Fund, of which over 1 100 applications have already been approved," he said.

"We have already included 387 courses in the list of reimbursable courses and we are expecting more new courses, particularly those for the IISW sector, to be added to the list," he added.

The application forms, guidance notes for training providers, as well as the assessment criteria for the IISW sector can now be obtained from the CEF website (http://www.sfaa.gov.hk/cef).

The public can also browse the updated list of reimbursable courses under the CEF from the same website.

End/ Wednesday, July 10, 2002

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