The Acting Secretary for Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR), Dr Tony Lee, who will be the speaker of the seminar, said today (June 6) that since their inception in 2000 the benchmarks had helped many companies in developing their English language requirements for recruitment and promotion.

“Not only employers, but also employees can benefit by referring to the Benchmarks as self-improvement targets for career growth. Therefore, it is a win-win situation for both employers and employees to adopt the benchmarks”, he added.

The Hong Kong Workplace English Benchmarks were developed by the Workplace English Campaign (WEC), initially for employees of low proficiency job type, front-line service personnel, clerks, receptionists/operators, secretaries and executives/administrators/associate professionals, to spell out the standards of English writing and speaking that they should attain.

To heighten public understanding about the benchmarks and their value for local employers and employees, the WEC will organize a series of public seminars with the first one targeting people who have little knowledge of the benchmarks.

The seminar, titled “How can Employers and Employees Apply Hong Kong Workplace English Benchmarks in Human Resources Development”, will be conducted in Cantonese between 3:00 and 3:30 p.m. on June 12, 2004 (Saturday) at Atrium Plaza, 1/F Plaza Hollywood, Diamond Hill. Admission is free. As seats are limited, pre-registration has to be made on a first-come-first-served basis at the website: http://www.jobmarket.com.hk/junefair.cfm.

The seminar is one of the highlights of “Workplace English Zone” jointly presented by Workplace English Campaign and JobMarket to provide information on the Workplace English Campaign, the Hong Kong Workplace English Benchmarks, the Funding Scheme for Workplace English Training and various workplace English training courses that are available in the market.

The “Workplace English Zone” is part of the “JobMarket Career Planning and Education Fair 2004” to be held from June 12 to 13 (Saturday and Sunday).

The Workplace English Campaign was launched by the HKSAR Government in 2000 with the aims of increasing public awareness of the importance of workplace English and to raise the standard of English among the Hong Kong workforce. The Campaign is a Language Fund Project steered by SCOLAR.