PRESS RELEASES: 1999-2004

Workplace English Campaign embarks on second round of publicity

After the very successful launch of the publicity programme featuring the Campaign's ambassador, Miss Kelly Chen, in April 2002, the Workplace English Campaign will embark on another round of publicity programme starting from tomorrow (October 19).

Together with the entitlements obtained from various sponsors, the advertisement will be placed in MTR, KCR, Citybus, and bus shelters.

Same as last time, the focus of the publicity will be on the Funding Scheme for Workplace English Training which provides employees with subsidy for English training courses and recognized examinations. The slogan "More Confidence, More Recognition" will still be used to encourage members of the working population to make use of the Funding Scheme to achieve better standard of English.

Since the last round of publicity in April, SCOLAR has been receiving about 4,000 telephone enquiries, 2,000 requests for application forms by auto-fax, and over 1,200 applications per month.

“Compared to the period before our last publicity programme, we recorded a four-fold and three-fold increase in the number of telephone enquiries and applications respectively. We are glad to see such a good response from the public,” Chairman of SCOLAR, Mr Michael Tien said.

"We hope that with Kelly’s full support to the Workplace English Campaign, more working adults will become aware of the important of raising their standards of English”, Mr Tien said.

Launched in February 2000, the Workplace English Campaign aims to heighten public awareness of the importance of English and to raise the English standard of the Hong Kong workforce. The $50-million Funding Scheme is one of the core features of the Campaign, which operates under the aegis of the SCOLAR.

Thus far, the Funding Scheme has received over 33,000 applications for funding subsidy, of which nearly 20,000 applications have been approved, involving a commitment of over $32 million. A total of over 9,000 employees have successfully completed their training and passed the international tests.

Regarding course development applications, a total of 26 applications for developing industry-specific training courses have been received. Course development proposals cover a variety of English-language training courses for several job types including taxi-drivers, retail staff in restaurants, legal practitioners and accountancy professionals.

The Workplace English Campaign will embark on another round of publicity programme starting from tomorrow (19 October 2002). The advertisement will be placed in MTR, KCR, Citybus, and bus shelters.

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End/Friday, October 18, 2002