STUDENTS may lose the opportunity of joining the annual Summer Work Experience Programme organised by the Hong Kong Association of Careers and Guidance Masters because it is considering scrapping the programme next year.
''It's getting harder to find organisations willing to join the programme because the tertiary internship schemes are taking up a lot of available slots. Besides, students can easily find well-paid summer jobs nowadays.
''The decreasing number of participating students has raised the operation costs of the programme,'' said Mr Joe Chan Joe-chak, chairman of the Careers and Guidance Masters Association.
The programme, started in 1974, allows fifth-formers to have a taste of work in the non-industrial field, this includes voluntary organisations, hospitals and commercial firms.
Each secondary school can nominate between three and five students to join the three-to eight-week programme.
After an interview and screening by teachers and their future ''employers'', about 150 students are chosen each year.
The scheme starts in early June and ends before the release of the HKCEE results around the middle of August. The participants, who will receive a travel allowance, are required to hand in a report after the end of the programme.