Press Release

Persons in custody obtain certificates for travel agent assistant and taxi driver training courses

     Twenty-one persons in custody who completed the Travel Agent Assistant and Professional Taxi Driver (Taxi Written Test) training at Tung Tau Correctional Institution were presented with certificates today (June 17) in recognition of their efforts.

     Officiating at the presentation ceremony, the Executive Director of the Vocational Training Council, Mrs Carrie Yau, encouraged the graduates to pursue lifelong learning. She commended the Correctional Services Department (CSD) for keeping pace with industry developments by providing market-oriented vocational training courses for persons in custody, especially in view of the rise in demand for trained personnel in the travel and taxi driver industries in recent years. The training courses will equip them with the vocational skills and knowledge necessary to reintegrate themselves into society after release, she said.

     She added that the two courses had been arranged through the collaborative efforts of the CSD and other organisations and departments, including the Vocational Training Council, the Employees Retraining Board, the Transport Department and the Society of Rehabilitation and Crime Prevention, Hong Kong. She said she was gratified to see that the trainees were sparing no effort in learning in order to achieve good results.

      The CSD's General Manager of Industries and Vocational Training, Mr Ma Ka-kit, thanked the various organisations and departments for their efforts in course arrangement and co-ordination on behalf of the CSD. He said that the CSD had introduced the travel agent assistant course last year and the professional taxi driver training course this year, thus broadening the categories and scope of the CSD's vocational training courses. The examination mode of the taxi driver training course was specially arranged by the Transport Department. The candidates were not required to sit for the examination at regular examination centres, but were allowed to sit a written test in their penal institution to obtain a taxi driving licence. Trainees on this course also received training in "integrity", "driving attitude" and "capability to deal with a sudden occurrence". Such professional training will help them to find related work as quickly as possible after their release.

     Among the graduates was Ah Wai (not his real name), who will be released in the middle of this year. He completed the travel agent assistant training course and received the certificate. He said he would not disappoint his mother again and would start a new life after release. He added that he wanted to take his mother on a trip to Taiwan and would attempt to find a job in the travel industry. He also gave a vote of thanks on behalf of all graduates and appealed for support for rehabilitated persons.

     The CSD offers to persons in custody more than 30 market-oriented vocational training courses -- covering construction, engineering, catering, retail, commercial, tourism, beauty, logistics, laundry services, information technology, environmental services, health care and transport -- to enhance their professional skills for reintegration into society.

Ends/Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Issued at HKT 16:43

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The Executive Director of the Vocational Training Council, Mrs Carrie Yau, presented certificates to persons in custody who graduated from Travel Agent Assistant training and Professional Taxi Driver (Taxi Written Test) training at a ceremony at Tung Tau Correctional Institution today (June 17).

Graduates who participated in the Travel Agent Assistant training course demonstrate at a mock counter of a travel agency how to receive customers planning to go on trips.

A graduate who participated in the Professional Taxi Driver (Taxi Written Test) training course demonstrates how to provide quality service at a mock taxi model.