LCQ17: Love Upgrading Special Scheme
1.6.2022

Following is a question by the Hon Cheung Kwok-kwan and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Dr Law Chi-kwong, in the Legislative Council today (June 1): Question: The Employees Retraining Board (ERB) has launched five tranches of the "Love Upgrading Special Scheme" (the Scheme) since October 2019 to assist the unemployed or underemployed in upgrading their skills, pursuing self-enhancement and joining the employment market. Eligible trainees may be disbursed a special allowance, and those who have completed the full-time "Vocational Skills" courses may be provided with follow-up placement services. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows: (1) the following information on each of the tranches of the Scheme: (i) the respective numbers of trainees who have completed courses in "Vocational Skills", "Innovation and Technology" and "Generic Skills", (ii) the average attendance rates of such trainees, (iii) the highest, lowest and median amounts of special allowance disbursed to such trainees, and (iv) the number of trainees who have successfully been provided with employment counselling, job referral and placement follow-up services (set out in a table); (2) in respect of each tranche of the Scheme, (i) the number of courses that can be conducted online, and (ii) trainees' overall level of satisfaction with the courses they have taken; and (3) whether the ERB will consider raising the ceiling of the special allowance that may be disbursed to trainees of various courses under the Scheme; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that? Reply: President, The Employees Retraining Board (ERB) has launched five tranches of the "Love Upgrading Special Scheme" (the Special Scheme) from October 2019 to provide training and special allowance to employees affected by economic downturn. The Special Scheme currently offers about 500 courses covering "Vocational Skills" of 28 trades, and various "Innovation and Technology" and "Generic Skills". Based on the information provided by the ERB, my reply to the Member's question is as follows: (1) As of end-April 2022, the numbers of trainees who had completed different categories of training courses and the amounts of special allowance disbursed to trainees under the first to fifth tranches of the Special Scheme are at Annex. The average attendance rates of trainees under the five tranches of the Special Scheme were 89 per cent, 91 per cent, 92 per cent, 93 per cent and 94 per cent respectively. The training bodies of the ERB provide placement follow-up services for three to six months to all trainees who have completed full-time "Vocational Skills" courses, helping them enter the employment market. As of end-April 2022, the numbers of trainees who have completed full-time "Vocational Skills" courses and finished the placement follow-up period under the first to fourth tranche of the Special Scheme were 7 816, 14 756, 21 213 and 24 893 respectively. As most classes under the fifth tranche of the Special Scheme have not finished, relevant information is not yet available. (2) In response to the COVID-19 epidemic and various anti-epidemic measures, the ERB has gradually modified suitable face-to-face courses to teaching in online interactive mode from April 2020, with a view to enabling trainees to continue learning during suspension of face-to-face classes. The number of online teaching courses has gradually increased from about 40 under the first tranche to currently 313 under the fifth tranche. The ERB invites trainees to complete opinion survey before the end of each training course. According to the surveys completed from October 2019 to April 2022, over 95 per cent of trainees were satisfied with the training courses they enrolled in. (3) The statutory cap of retraining allowance was increased from $4,000 to $5,800 per month in May 2020. The ERB currently has no plan to further raise the cap.