VTC Future Skills Community Event showcases outstanding students' achievements and promotes VPET through range of activities

The Future Skills Community Event organised by the Vocational Training Council (VTC) as one of the celebration events for the 25th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) as well as the VTC’s 40th Anniversary. With full support from the Education Bureau, activities including thematic exhibitions and seminars, skills demonstrations and industry sharing sessions are being held to showcase the achievements of VTC students and promote the development of Vocational and Professional Education and Training (VPET) to the public.

The Opening Ceremony was held today of the Future Skills Community Event. Officiating guests at today’s ceremony included Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration Mr CHEUK Wing-hing, VTC’s Chairman Mr Tony TAI, Deputy Chairmen Dr Daniel YIP and Mr Paul CHONG, and Executive Director Mr Donald TONG.

Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration Mr CHEUK Wing-hing highlighted that Hong Kong is blessed with long-term, wide-ranging opportunity as the National 14th Five-Year Plan supports Hong Kong’s leadership role in eight high-profile sectors and industries. “Perhaps the most pressing is ensuring that we have the talent we need to power those industries, to take full advantage of our nation’s support. No less important is our home-grown talent. We emphasise industry-institution collaboration and diversified development, promoting VPET as a pathway parallel to conventional academic education. In this regard, VPET providers, including the VTC, have a crucial role to play,” he added.

VTC’s Chairman Mr Tony TAI thanked the government officials and representatives of different sectors for attending Future Skills for Community Event in his welcome address. He said VTC was a major provider of VPET in Hong Kong, and “Skills” had always been a focus for the VTC over the course of its 40-year history. Noting that input from industry partners played an important role in creating and delivering the VPET programmes and initiatives offered by VTC’s 13 member institutions, he added that these VPET programmes had not only provided students with work-ready vocations and pathways for their further education, but had also helped meet the manpower needs of Hong Kong and made significant contributions to the city’s economy. He pointed out that just as the world was fast-changing, so was the talent demand across industries, especially in the post-COVID era. In order to equip its students with future-ready skills, VTC was transforming the learning and teaching environment through digital technologies, characterised by even closer collaboration between the public and private sectors, and among educators and companies.

The Future Skills Community Event is taking place from 9 to 11 December at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. It features five thematic areas, namely Digital, Green, Health, Smart Living and Cultivating Talents. A wide range of innovative and technology-integrated products designed by teachers and students are on display, enabling visitors to further understand the development of VPET, as well as the diverse learning opportunities and pathways offered through VPET.

This year marks the 40th Anniversary of the VTC. The VPET Lane at the event, comprising three thematic zones named VPET Journey, VPET Excellence and VPET in Action, illustrates the contribution of VPET to nurturing talent for society over four decades. It features stories and achievements of VPET graduates and showcase the interactive learning experience and vibrant student life at VTC. Solar-powered car SOPHIE, developed by VTC teachers and students and award-winning designs by VTC students from the Red Dot Design Awards will also be exhibited at the event.

A highlight of the Cultivating Talents thematic area is the VTC Occupation Dictionary which builds on the VTC’s strength in conducting manpower surveys for different industries. It is a tool for students as well as in-service workers to plan their education pathway and career development. By receiving Career Assessments using the famous Holland Occupational Themes, which consist of just 24 simple questions, visitors can obtain a preliminary understanding of their career orientation, then use the Occupation Dictionary to explore further information on relevant occupations and education, such as emerging job positions and top ten skills for the future workforce. In this thematic area, there is also an Occupation Experience Zone that allows visitors to uncover their interests and talent by playing Occupation Games. They can take a hands-on approach to discovering the working environment, techniques and tools required in selected occupations such as Pastry Chef, Loss Adjuster and Laboratory Technician.

Over the years, a large number of VTC students and graduates have represented Hong Kong in the WorldSkills Competition, hailed as the “Skills Olympics”. Not only have they achieved excellent results, they have also demonstrated that ‘Skills Change Life’ through the competition. This year is the 25th anniversary of Team Hong Kong’s membership in the WorldSkills Competition. WorldSkills Hong Kong showcases the achievements of young skilled talents over the 25 years. The elite competitors’ accomplishments will be shared through pictures and words, while competition uniforms, tools, equipment and work produced in the competition will be exhibited. Former competitors will also be on hand to share in person their feelings about participating in the competition and the unforgettable experiences they gained from it.

A variety of thematic talks and seminars will be held at the Event Plaza, where government officials, industry representatives and education experts will outline the development trends of the industry. Invited to attend today’s opening seminar themed ‘Design Impact -– Now and Beyond’, Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Mr Kevin YEUNG discussed with industry practitioners topics such as driving digital transformation through design, business opportunities in the Greater Bay Area, and building digital skills in the future workplace.

In the seminar ‘Transnational Skills for Future Success’, educators from Australia, Singapore and Mainland China shared on the importance and ways of fostering international perspective, and their experiences of engaging students in cross-cultural collaborations. During the ‘IndustryConnect – Meeting with CEOs, Community Connect with VPET: A Triple-Win’ session in the afternoon, CEOs discussed the foreseeable industry needs for manpower and how to benefit industries, students and the community by taking on students as interns or participants of collaborative projects. Meanwhile the creative talent in fashion design, image design and costume design of outstanding alumni from the Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI) is being showcased through the ‘Elite Extravaganza’ Fashion Show.

Established in 1982, the Vocational Training Council (VTC) is the largest vocational and professional education and training provider in Hong Kong. The mission of VTC is to provide a valued choice to school leavers and working people to acquire the values, knowledge and skills for lifelong learning and enhanced employability, and also to provide support to industries for their manpower development. VTC has 13 member institutions, namely the Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong (THEi), the Institute of Professional Education And Knowledge (PEAK), the School for Higher and Professional Education (SHAPE), the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (IVE), the Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI), the Hotel and Tourism Institute (HTI),  the Chinese Culinary Institute (CCI), the International Culinary Institute (ICI), the Maritime Services Training Institute (MSTI), Youth College, Pro-Act by VTC, the Integrated Vocational Development Centre (IVDC) and the Shine Skills Centre.

Website: www.vtc.edu.hk

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