At Hong Kong’s vocational institutes, post-secondary students queue for positions as a university alternative

At vocational schools around Hong Kong, many students who do not meet the minimum requirement to enter local universities lined up today to apply for higher diploma or associate degree programmes after government advisers last week urged the city to place a higher value on such practical training.

At the Institute of Vocational Education’s Haking Wong campus in Cheung Sha Wan, hundreds of students holding their Diploma of Secondary Education results snaked through the building as they waited to register for programmes such as civil engineering and health studies.

Many were accompanied by parents who took a day off work to assist their children. Some began lining up as early as 6.30am to secure a spot in line.

On July 6, the Task Force on Promotion of Vocational Education, which was formed in June last year, submitted a report to the Education Bureau in which it proposed 27 measures to raise the sector’s professional image, including further industry collaboration, promotion of applied learning and extensions to subsidy schemes.

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Wong Ka-yan, 18, who was at the Haking Wong campus yesterday, said she hoped to apply for a higher diploma in child care and education. “I like working with kids and I hope to be a kindergarten teacher when I grow up,” she said. “I think vocational programs can help students like me who don’t do as well academically. Taking these courses will make it easier to find jobs.”

In secondary school, Wong went to tutorial classes once a week to help bolster her grades. She currently lives in a public housing flat and meets the requirement for a government subsidised vocational course.