The government's funding scheme to promote workplace English training has been well received, the Office of the Workplace English Campaign (OWEC) has said.

"Since January, the Funding Scheme for Workplace English Training has been subsidizing workers who need to use English in the workplace to take up in-house training commissioned by their employers," the funding scheme's executive assistant Tammy Wong told reporters yesterday.

The scheme will encourage employers to tailor-make English training programmes for their employees, Wong said.

"We have received many applications since January, and employers have been eager to use government funding to enhance their workforce's English standards," she said.

Successful applicants will get a 50 per cent scheme subsidy for training and examination costs, with a maximum grant of HK$3,000 per person. Each applicant can participate in one English course, leading to a specified international business English examination.

The training course must be completed within one year. All Hong Kong permanent residents who haven't got any grant from the funding scheme are eligible for financial assistance, Wong said.

The funding scheme was established in 2000 by OWEC, with a government funding of HK$50 million. It aims to raise public awareness about the importance of English in the workplace and to improve proficiency in the language among the working population.

OWEC has also set a Hong Kong Workplace English Benchmark (HKWEB) for six job categories - clerks, executives, frontline service personnel, receptionists, secretaries and low proficiency job employees.

"The benchmark will serve as a useful reference in setting the demanded level of proficiency for recruitment and staff development, while employees will understand more clearly what their employers' expectations of the English standards are," said Billy Woo, secretary of the Standing Committee on Language Education and Research.

Further information on the funding scheme can be obtained from OWEC web site: http://www.english.gov.hk.

(HK Edition 04/02/2005 page2)