In the 2001 Policy Address, the Chief Executive announced that the Government would set aside $5 billion to subsidize adults with learning aspirations to pursue continuous learning, thereby preparing Hong Kong's workforce for the knowledge-based economy. Eligible applicants will be reimbursed 80% of their fees, subject to a maximum sum of $10,000, on successful completion of a reimbursable course.

Arrangements for Course Registration under the CEF

Prior to the implementation of the Qualifications Framework (QF) on 5 May 2008, courses intended to be registered under the CEF were subject to prior assessment. Areas such as relevance of the course content to the competency requirements, course duration, mode of delivery, assessment methods, background of instructors and presenters, and the quality assurance procedures would be considered in the assessment. However, these courses were not assessed in terms of academic or vocational level / standard, or the qualifications to be awarded. As required by the Labour and Welfare Bureau, in order to place stronger emphasis on the examination of the overarching governance and quality assurance mechanism adopted by the course providers, new courses run by non-self-accrediting institutions will have to undergo formal accreditation exercise conducted by the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ) and be entered into the Qualifications Register (QR) before their registration under the CEF following the implementation of the QF.

The requirement will apply to all new courses to be registered by existing and new course providers. All course providers seeking to register new courses under the CEF are invited to approach the HKCAAVQ for accreditation of their courses. For details, please consult the website of the HKCAAVQ on Four-stage Quality Assurance Process:
(http://www.hkcaavq.edu.hk/en/services_fourstage.asp).

As for new courses run by the local self-accrediting universities and their continuing education sections, they must be entered into the QR before registration under the CEF.

Skill Sectors and Domains Eligible for Registration

For the purposes of registration for the CEF, courses of the following sectors and skill domains will be assessed in accordance with the Sector-specific Competencies as specified by the Government:-

• Logistics;

• Business Services;

• Tourism Industry;

• Product and Digital Design;

• Language (English, Putonghua, Written Chinese, Spanish, French,   German, Korean or Japanese);

• Financial Services;

• Creative Industries; and

• Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Skills for the Workplace.

As for courses falling outside the above eight specified domains of the CEF, they may be considered for registration under the CEF scheme if they are "SCS-based Courses". In order to be qualified as "SCS-based Courses", the courses must comply with the principles and requirements as set out in the Qualifications Guidelines for SCS-based Courses. Such courses must go through the normal accreditation procedures (except for those courses offered by the self-accrediting institutions) and entered into the QR as "SCS-based Courses". The Qualifications Guidelines for SCS-based Courses and the approved sets of SCSs can be found on the website of the QF (http://www.hkqf.gov.hk/) for public reference.

Application form and Guideline

In alignment with the aforementioned new arrangement under the CEF scheme promulgated by the Labour and Welfare Bureau (LWB), the application form and assessment guides have been duly amended.  The relevant documents can be downloaded from the following links:

A. For Local Self-accrediting Universities
a. Application Form for Continuing Education Sections of Local Self-     accrediting Universities (Annex A)
b. Guide to Assessment of Courses for Continuing Education Sections of     Local Self-accrediting Universities (Annex B)
c. Attachment 1 - Summary of the Course
d. Attachment 2 – Parts I & II

 

B. For Non-self-accrediting Course Providers
a. Application Form for Non-self-accrediting Course Providers (Annex A)
b. Guide to Registering a Reimbursable Course for Non-self–accrediting     Course Providers (Annex B)
c. Guide to Assessment of Courses for Non-self-accrediting Course     Providers (Annex C)
d. Attachment 1 - Summary of the Course
e. Attachment 2 – Parts I & II

 

C. Renewal of CEF Registration Commensurate with the Expiry of      the Qualifications Register Status of a Course
a. Information
b. Form of Undertaking
c. Course Information Form

 

D.Course Amendment
a. Course Amendment Form

 

Dos and Don'ts List
Frequestly asked Questions