A government scheme to improve job prospects for secondary school leavers will start early in August rather than the start of the school year in September, the labour chief said yesterday.
'To co-ordinate with the release of secondary examination results, we will accept applications to the programme earlier than before and the courses will start early as well,' Commissioner for Labour Pamela Tan Kam Mi-wah said.
She said the Youth Pre-employment Training Programme had strengthened employment and other support services since its launch in September 1999.
Of the 12,000 trainees who enrolled last September, 3,800 had opted for vocational studies and more than 6,300 of the 8,200 who remained had successfully found jobs by last month - a job placement rate of 76 per cent, a rise of 25 per cent from the previous year.
The Labour Department said it had commissioned Polytechnic University to carry out a comprehensive review of the programme, and recommendations on its future direction would be released later this month.
The commissioner yesterday signed an agreement with six vocational institutions reducing course fees and relaxing admission requirements.
