Jobs at IBM? Skills training programme P-Tech to launch in Hong Kong schools and could provide graduates with job opportunities at tech giant
Free five-year course, which will award graduates an associate degree and put them first in line for jobs at tech giant, awaits Education Bureau nod
Multinational company IBM wants to bring a skills training programme to Hong Kong schools which will equip pupils as young as 15 with technology sector know-how while remaining in mainstream education.
If launched, the five-year programme, which would award graduates an associate degree and put them first in line for positions at the tech giant, could be a potential game changer with industries complaining of local students starting job-specific training much later than their overseas counterparts.
“The latest technology, like artificial intelligence, data analytics … changes the world and the future of jobs. These ‘new collar’ jobs call for a new approach in education,” Mary Law Wai-oi, head of corporate citizenship at IBM Hong Kong, said.
Therefore, she said IBM was exploring the possibility of bringing its P-TECH model to Hong Kong.
First launched in 2011 in New York, P-TECH, which stands for Pathways in Technology Early College High School, is a five- to six-year partnership between secondary schools, tertiary institutions and industries for students to acquire skills needed for an entry-level position.