Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Following is a question by Professor the Hon Chow Man-kong and a reply by the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Miss Alice Mak, in the Legislative Council today (June 25):
Question:
There are views that the Government should optimise the Capacity Building Mileage Programme (CBMP) to enhance women’s personal development skills and competitiveness. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the numbers of persons enrolling in CBMP courses and the amounts of bursary approved in each of the past three years, together with a breakdown by the five learning domains (i.e. Personal Development, Health and Care, Applied Science and Technology, Wisdom of Life, and Arts and Culture);
(2) as it was stated at the meeting of the Panel on Home Affairs, Culture and Sports of this Council on May 28 last year that the Women’s Commission would explore and study how to keep CBMP abreast of the times and benefit more women, of the concrete progress and proposed direction of the relevant work at present; and
(3) whether it will consider exploring with the organisers of CBMP courses to refine the curriculum by incorporating more knowledge in areas such as e-commerce, community services, and public relations, and consolidating related courses for inclusion into the Qualifications Register, as well as providing more flexible funding arrangements, with a view to elevating women’s workplace skills and overall competitiveness; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The Capacity Building Mileage Programme (CBMP) was launched by the Women’s Commission (WoC) in 2004 with the aim of encouraging women of different backgrounds and education levels to pursue self-development and lifelong learning by offering courses under different domains.
My consolidated reply, in consultation with the Education Bureau, to the question raised by Professor the Hon Chow Man-kong is as follows:
(1) In the past three programme years (i.e. 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24), the number of participants of the CBMP were approximately 4 000, 5 000, and 6 000 respectively. The amounts of bursary approved in each of the three programme years were approximately $120,000, $140,000 and $260,000 respectively. Detailed figures are at Annex.
Regarding the five learning domains, since participants could enrol in more than one course within the same programme year, we are unable to provide the number of participants and the approved bursary amounts for each learning domain. In this regard, the breakdown of enrolment by the five learning domains of CBMP (i.e., Personal Development, Health and Care, Applied Science and Technology, Wisdom of Life and Arts and Culture) over the past 3 programme years are at Annex.
(2) & (3) The Government attaches great importance to women’s contribution to the community and the work of supporting women. Through various initiatives, we aim to empower women and help them to excel in different arenas, including the workplace.
At its inception, the CBMP was designed, in respond to the societal learning and employment landscape at that time, to enable women to enhance their personal capabilities by enroling in various types of courses during their spare time. The CBMP has been implemented for over 20 years and several developments have emerged across society, economy, workplace, education, technology, etc, such as artificial intelligence and mobile payments. As such, the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau (HYAB) and the WoC launched the Women Empowerment Fund (WEF) in June 2023. With an annual funding of $20 million, WEF subsidises women’s groups and non-governmental organisations for implementing projects that promote women’s development. To date, the WEF approved over 280 projects, involving over $43 million in funding and engaging more than 170 organisations. Apart from courses, projects funded under WEF also include workshops, placement opportunities and community serving projects. This allows the funded organisations to flexibly utilise the funding and implement suitable activities based on social needs for women from different backgrounds and social strata. Since its establishment, the WEF has also supported projects related to workplace skills, e-commerce and communication skills. These include, for example, training programmes on job seeking skills for women looking for employment, courses on digital marketing and personal image enhancement. The WEF also runs the Programme on Women’s Participation in Community Services, which encourages women to plan and implement community service projects based on actual societal needs, such as preparing soft meals for the elderly, visiting residential care homes for persons with disabilities, and organising day camps for children with special educational needs, thereby promoting community care and inclusion.
On the other hand, to promote women’s workplace development, we also launched the “She Inspires” Mentorship Programme this year. Under the programme, local female university students who aspire to pursue a career in the professional or business sectors will be matched with women leader mentors, and provided with relevant training and activities to help young women enhance their workplace skills and prepare them for entering the workforce, thereby improving women’s overall competitiveness in the long term.
To better utilise government resources in promoting women’s development and training, the HYAB and the WoC are reviewing the future direction of the CBMP and related arrangements. This is to ensure the effective use of the Government’s financial resources and keep up with the times in promoting women’s development in all aspects. During the review, our principle is to maintain the usage of the existing resources while enhancing the synergy between various projects and societal sectors. We will announce the review results in due course.
Qualifications Framework (QF) is a clear and well-defined seven-level hierarchy that serves to define clear and objective standards applicable to qualifications in the academic, vocational and professional as well as continuing education sectors; assure the quality of qualifications and the associated learning programmes available to learners; and assure relevancy of learning to industry needs. The Qualifications Register (QR) under the QF is a free-of-charge, open, centralised online database of quality assured qualifications recognised under the QF to facilitate the public search of the relevant qualifications. The Government welcomes course providers to register their accredited courses or qualifications on the QR in accordance with the Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications Ordinance (Cap. 592) and related quality assurance mechanism. Currently, there are 17 courses under the CBMP listed at Level 2 of the QF.
The HYAB will continue to review various measures aimed at women’s development and, through collaboration with different stakeholders, flexibly utilise resources to continue promoting women’s development in all aspects.
Ends/Wednesday, June 25, 2025
Issued at HKT 15:00
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