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Following is a question by the Hon Lau Wong-fat and a written reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Dr Patrick Ho, in the Legislative Council today (February 8):
Question:
Will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the titles, specific contents and dates of training programmes organised for District Council ("DC") members in the past three years;
(b) how the authorities, in organising the above training programmes, assess whether their contents can meet the actual operational needs of DC members, and whether the views of DC members have been sought in this regard; and
(c) whether it will consider setting up a training board for DC members, with DC members included in its membership, to study the training needs of DC members, design the contents of training programmes and work out the specific implementation details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) From 2003-04 to 2005-06, the Home Affairs Department (HAD) offered a total of 115 training courses for members of the 18 District Councils (DCs) and their assistants. Of the 115 training courses, 37 were on information technology, 18 on public administration, 45 on DC work and 15 on building management. More information on the training courses is contained in the attached table for Members' reference.
(b) HAD distributed questionnaires to all DC members in June 2002 and February 2004 to invite all DC members to indicate their training requirements. In drawing up training programmes for DC members and their assistants for 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06, HAD made reference to the respective surveys to ensure that the training courses offered for DC members and their assistants met their training and operational needs. To facilitate the drawing up of training programmes for DC members and their assistants for 2006-07, HAD will distribute questionnaires to all DC members again in March 2006 to seek their views on training requirements.
(c) In the latest survey conducted in February 2004, HAD received a total of 301 replies (56.9% of all 529 DC members). This provided a good representation of the views of DC members. From 2006 onwards, HAD will distribute questionnaires annually to all DC members to consult them on their training requirements. Proposals from DC members are also welcome any time during the year. While the existing mechanism provides an effective platform for all DC members to indicate their training requirements to HAD, the Administration will keep in view the question as regards whether a training board should be set up.
Ends/Wednesday, February 8, 2006
Issued at HKT 14:36
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