Two of the Government's main job-training bodies may be merged to cut costs and establish broader and better co-ordinated training. The Education and Manpower Bureau will commission a study later this month to review management of the Vocational Training Council (VTC) and the Employees Retraining Board (ERB). The study is expected to last until July. The bureau's initial evaluation has found that while both bodies target different groups of trainees, their training courses are similar. Merging the two would increase the flexibility of course planning and resource allocation and ensure a uniform standard on course assessment and quality guarantees, the bureau said. The VTC is mainly responsible for providing pre-employment training for secondary school leavers, while the ERB offers retraining to those over 30 who are educated up to Secondary Three level and unemployed. Neither caters for certain groups, such as employed people over 20 who want to be retrained for other careers. The study will also analyse the two training bodies' services and their relationship with other training groups, such as the Construction Industry Training Authority and the Clothing Industry Training Authority. It is understood ERB members are keener on making changes before considering a possible merger with the council. 'Some have suggested the board should change its name to the Employees Training Board or even the Staff Training Board before any reforms,' a board source said. He said the ERB should expand services to people over 20 who are now excluded from its programmes. A council source said one preliminary idea could be for the ERB to be incorporated into the VTC. Both training bodies have been plagued by financial and managerial problems. The VTC was criticised by the Audit Commission in November 1999 for poor management that led to at least $160 million in lost revenue. The ERB has sought $400 million in recurrent funding each year from the Government to save it from bankruptcy. It has been granted about $1.6 billion since 1992 and offers nearly 100,000 retraining places each year. ERB member and Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions vice-chairman Poon Siu-ping said changes to the board's role were long overdue and necessary if it wanted to go into a merger in a strong position. 'The whole retraining system is rendered useless once the employment situation improves and we are not allowed to extend the base of our services,' he said. Board chairman and Executive Council member Tam Yiu-chung said a possible merger was not without problems. 'The two bodies have different operating models. The VTC has its own campus and teaching staff while we contract out our courses to other social organisations,' he said.