The Employees Retraining Board (ERB) has established a set of criteria in admitting organisations as its appointed Training Bodies. Only appointed Training Bodies are authorised to run ERB courses. To monitor the performance of appointed Training Bodies and uphold the quality of training courses, a “Risk-and-performance-based” approach is adopted under the quality assurance mechanism. A dual-track system of “regular monitoring” and “case management” is adopted to monitor different appointed Training Bodies with different level of performance. The various measures under “regular monitoring” are also applied in accordance with the Training Bodies' backgrounds, performance track records, risk levels, etc. The existing quality assurance measures cover a wide range of aspects entailing organisational administration, course quality management, trainers, assessments, etc. ERB conducts annual audits at various Training Bodies with a view to assessing their performance in administration and course quality, as well as facilitating them to strengthen their internal quality assurance system. Surprise inspections to various Training Bodies are carried out to ensure their compliance with stipulated regulations governing course administration and course end assessments. Technical Advisors are arranged to observe practical assessments administered by various Training Bodies so as to enhance quality and align the standard of assessment whereas Teaching Advisors are engaged to conduct class visits to different training centres to boost trainers' quality in teaching.
For under-performing Training Bodies identified in the course of implementing various quality assurance measures, ERB will set out “case management” plans, where necessary, depending on the background and situation with a view to ensuring their improvement in performance. These plans may include support services like consultation meetings or case discussions, conducting trainees' opinion surveys, and stepping up monitoring measures etc.
The performance of Training Bodies in various quality assurance measures is one of the criteria to be considered by ERB in its annual exercise of training places allocation.
