Recommendation
- Bring in industry elements to the curriculum of secondary schools so that students have real knowledge of the industry.
- The industry may join hands with training providers to develop “Applied Learning (ApL) Subjects” with maritime elements for senior secondary students as there is no relevant ApL subject at the moment.
- The industry should also step up its efforts to promote the career opportunities to young people through the provision of workplace experience, e.g. ride on the platform of the “Business-School Partnership Programme 2.0” mentioned in the 2022 Policy Address to offer more experiential activities for secondary school students.
- Ocean-going cadets taking home leave are easily tempted to other onshore jobs, ship management companies may consider providing them paid shore-based duties to keep them engaged.
- Other possible means to maintain young employees’ passion for their careers include the provision of better job titles, clear progression ladders and experience sharing by peers.
- The Government is also suggested to review the subsidy level of the Sea-going Training Incentive Scheme (SGTIS) and the Ship Repair Training Incentive Scheme (SRTIS) taking into consideration Hong Kong’s current living costs and the salaries of other jobs with similar requirements.
- Training providers should keep up with the training needs of the industry and be responsive and flexible in the delivery of training.
- Training needs identified, e.g. training related to new energy source of vessels, data analytics skills and training specific to yacht crew should be properly addressed.
- Taking into consideration the unique operations of the industry, training providers may relax the minimum number of trainees required for running sea-going examination preparatory courses and develop online resources for self-learning so that sea-going practitioners could complete most of the training hours while they are working at sea.
- As the demand for yacht operators is increasing, the industry reckons the need to raise its standards and draw up a set of competency standards for assessment and upskilling purposes.
- The increasing popularity of yachts also drives the need for more comprehensive yacht management services, e.g. yacht buying/selling, chartering, journey planning, insurance, maintenance and surveying. Yacht operators could be upskilled to take up these management roles once the competencies required by each role are clearly defined.
- The 2023-24 Budget announced the injection of an additional $200 million into the Maritime and Aviation Training Fund (MATF) to support the manpower training of the industry. The industry and training providers are encouraged to propose new schemes under MATF to optimise its use.
- Proposals worth studying include but not limited to the following:
- Provide scholarships for overseas study to students/in-service practitioners who aspired to a career in naval architecture, marine engineering and marine insurance to study relevant degree or post-degree level programmes which are not available in Hong Kong
- Offer fiscal incentives (say monthly allowance) to attract students to study designated maritime programmes in Hong Kong to ensure sufficient supply of new blood to the industry
- Introduce a scheme similar to the Local Vessel Competency Enhancement Scheme (LVCES) in the ocean-going sector to encourage ocean-going practitioners to obtain higher qualifications by providing one-off financial incentive
- Make reference to the Maritime and Aviation Internship Scheme and launch a new incentive scheme to subsidise maritime companies to employ sea-going cadets who are taking home leave to take up short-term shore-based jobs, with a view to retaining these young cadets in the industry
