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This year marks the 40th Anniversary of the Vocational Training Council (VTC). To commemorate this important milestone, the VTC held the 40th Anniversary Ceremony cum Outstanding Alumni Award Presentation today (13 June) with the Chief Executive of the HKSAR Mrs Carrie LAM, as the Guest of Honour. Mrs Lam also presented awards to outstanding alumni in recognition of their remarkable achievements in many professional fields. With a view to further engaging different stakeholders and the community, the VTC will organise a wide variety of anniversary activities, creating platforms for grooming of professional and skilled talent with concerted efforts to support the sustainable development of industry and society. The Ceremony was held at the Chai Wan Campus of the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (IVE), a member institution of the VTC. At the Ceremony, the Chief Executive of the HKSAR, Mrs Carrie LAM said that vocational and professional education and training (VPET) had become an important part of the education systems both in Hong Kong and the Mainland. In April, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress had passed amendments to the Mainland’s Vocational Education Law, promoting vocational education to the same level as general education and further strengthening the country’s technical school system. She remarked that the HKSAR Government shared the same vision and had established the Task Force on Promotion of VPET in 2018 to review and enhance the promotion of relevant programmes. Mrs Lam thanked VTC and other stakeholders for their contributions to the development of VPET over the past four decades. She believed that VTC would continue to play an integral role in propelling our city to head forward in the new era. VTC Chairman Tony TAI noted in his welcome address that the VTC was established 40 years ago, dedicated to promoting vocational education. From five technical institutes to today’s 13 member institutions with some 200,000 students every year, the VTC remained committed to nurturing a diversity of talents to support the socio-economic development of Hong Kong. Chairman Tai also said that the VTC moved with the times to meet the rising demand for skilled talents with an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit as well as a caring heart embracing the post-COVID era. He was delighted to see that the recognition and popularity of VPET were on the rise. With the recent development of the vocational education in the Mainland, he said that the VTC looked forward to intensifying collaboration with the Mainland institutions to organise exchange activities, industrial attachments and career development opportunities for students and graduates, particularly tapping new opportunities in the Greater Bay Area. Curated under the 40th Anniversary theme of “Skilling Talent • Sparking Innovation”, the Ceremony also provides a platform for recognizing accomplishments of VPET graduates. At the Ceremony, the Chief Executive of the HKSAR, Mrs Carrie LAM presented the VTC 40th Anniversary Outstanding Alumni Award to VTC’s distinguished alumni. This year, 14 distinguished alumni were conferred the award, including Ms Carmen CHAN Ka-man, Ms CHAN On-yan, Ms Rosanna CHOI Yi-tak, Mr Eric FAN Kin-man, Mr Carson KAN Chun-chit, Mr Dennis KWAN Ping-yuen, Ir Alvin LO Tsz-yeung, Mr MAK Kam-kui, Mr Terence NG Choi-wah, Cr Daniel SHUM Hau-tak, Ms Aries SIN Mei-yuk, Dr Timothy SHUEN Wai-ho, Mr Jayson TANG Ka-ho, and Mr Taylor YIP Tai-loi (refer to Appendix). Pursuing the VPET pathway, these VTC alumni excelled in their professions and contributed significantly to respective industries. In particular, they have supported VTC and industries for talent development and helped promote innovation. The are indeed role models in their professions. At the Ceremony, a video highlight about VTC’s development and achievements of promoting VPET over the 40 years was screened. Having started a new VPET chapter in 1982, the VTC now offers programmes at Diploma, Higher Diploma and Bachelor’s Degree levels, opening up opportunities for young people and in-service practitioners to acquire professional expertise. VTC students, teachers and alumni also leveraged their professional skills and innovative technologies to co-develop various applied projects to support the sustainable development of industries and address community’s needs, creating value for social good. After the ceremony, Mrs Lam and guests also visited the new teaching facilities at IVE (Chai Wan) and the applied projects developed by VTC students and teaching teams. Among them is the Photovoltaic System with Solar Tracking designed by IVE student-teacher team of the Engineering Discipline. Through the light sensors installed on the solar panel device, the system will automatically control the solar panels to adjust its angle to follow the light source so that more solar energy can be absorbed. The team found that the solar tracking system can improve the power generation efficiency and plan to use the electricity collected to power various electrical appliances. Other student projects showcased at the newly furnished “Smart Corridor” and “Learning Commons” in the Chai Wan campus include the cross-disciplinary project developed by student-teacher team of the Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong (THEi), which uses okara and spent grains to produce editable utensils; the “Portable Near Infrared Rapid Authentication System for Chinese Medicine” co-developed by THEi degree students studying the Chinese Medicinal Pharmacy programme and industry partners; the “SmartPresenter” and “SignChat” apps developed by IVE Higher Diploma graduates from the Information Technology Discipline; and the “U-Trap Refill Automator”, “STEMbot Coffee” and “iStick” smart walking cane projects developed by IVE Higher Diploma student-teacher teams from the Engineering Discipline. In addition to the Ceremony, VTC will organise an exciting range of anniversary activities which include the International Student Seminar, jointly organised by the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) of Singapore and the VTC, in which students from the two places will explore new ideas on how we can work together to rebuild a better Post-COVID future online; the Hong Kong Junior Skills Competition 2022 to promote skills among the secondary school community; and the Award Presentation Ceremony for the “Create Smart District in Hong Kong Project” co-organised by VTC, the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and the Hong Kong Productivity Council. Interested parties are welcome to visit the VTC’s 40th Anniversary website for more information about the activities and to know more about VTC’s development: www.vtc.edu.hk/40 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 Media Enquiries: 2836 1046 / 2836 1869 Annex: VTC 40th Anniversary Outstanding Alumni Awardees
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