Applying to Become an Appointed Training Body
Training programmes under the Manpower Development Scheme at the Employees Retraining Board (ERB) are conducted by appointed Training Bodies. All Training Bodies are well experienced in adult education or vocational training. Currently, there are approximately 300 courses being offered through a network of 71 Training Bodies at over 240 centres. Besides training, these Training Bodies also provide career counseling services including job matching and placement referral services for graduate trainees. In response to the launching of Qualifications Register in May 2008, most ERB courses have been accredited by the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic & Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ) and uploaded onto the Qualifications Register (QR). To ensure that new training providers possess matching standard of quality assurance and that public funds be used in providing quality training, ERB requires all training providers interested in becoming our appointed Training Bodies to undergo the first stage of accreditation - Initial Evaluation, conducted by the HKCAAVQ prior to the submission of application. To facilitate this, the HKCAAVQ shall receive applications for Initial Evaluation of training providers interested in becoming our appointed Training Bodies in June and December every year. (Please contact HKCAAVQ for more details.) Training providers are required to supply evidence indicating that they have passed the Initial Evaluation when submitting applications for becoming our appointed Training Bodies. Applications for becoming appointed Training Bodies will be vetted by the Quality Assurance and Review Committee (QARC) of the ERB. The QARC shall consider the applications based on the prescribed criteria and benchmarks including experiences of the organizations in adult education and vocational training, employers' network, potential contributions to the Manpower Development Scheme, etc. Training providers may at the same time submit new course proposal which shall be vetted by the Course Development Committee (CDC) separately if their application has been successful. Training providers may be invited to attend Committee meeting(s) for introduction of their proposals and answering of possible enquiries of members. Proposals may need to be revised upon members’ advice as well. Once application has been approved, the Executive Office shall initiate the legal procedure of gazette. Training providers will become an appointed Training Body only after completion of the whole gazette procedure, and could apply for funding for piloting new training courses or bid for new courses developed by the Executive Office. At the outset, we will set a probation period of 6 months start counting at the commencement of the Training Body’s first class. After the first probation term, the Committee will evaluate the performances of its pilot courses and consider confirming the status of the training body on formal basis, and approve funding of repeated classes. If otherwise, the Committee could decide to prolong the probation period for the new Training Body. An Agreement spelling out the responsibilities of parties concerned will be signed between the ERB and the new Training Body. The ERB will monitor and conduct on-site inspection of training courses and reserve rights to suspend classes if improvement is deemed urgently needed. Training providers interested in finding out more about our application procedures and details of benchmarks and vetting criteria are welcome to browse other parts of the site. If you require further information, please don't hesitate to contact the Course Administration Section at (852) 3129 1333. |