Developing Degree-level Work-based Qualifications in Hong Kong

Vocational training has long been viewed as "second class" in comparison to academic education.  In many cases, this stems from a lack of equivalent credentials, even though work-based training programmes frequently give intricate and comprehensive knowledge, skills, and competence to learners. Hong Kong, thankfully, is bucking the trend and demonstrating that a vocational pathway is as valued as that of its academic cousins.

Our consultants, worked with the Vocational Training Council (VTC) in Hong Kong to develop a degree-level Meister vocational qualification for lift and escalator technicians that combines technical, managerial and pedagogical skills, and then supported VTC through the accreditation process with Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ).

The Situation

VTC has always been committed to advancing vocational education, by growing knowledgeable and skilled talent in collaboration with industry. That’s why VTC stepped forward when the Government’s Task Force on Promotion of Vocational and Professional Education and Training (VPET) issued a review report recommending that the development of vocational progression pathways for practitioners be explored.  VTC began to look at how it could build such a pathway, in the form of a professional skill-based qualification that could be acquired flexibly through a combination of vocational training in colleges, workplace assessment, and in-service training.

The lift and escalator sector was selected to be the first trade for developing such a pathway given its significance to public safety and operation of the city, and the manpower shortage the sector faces.

The lift and escalator workforce in Hong Kong also features a large number of experienced Registered Lift Workers and Registered Escalator Workers, who for decades have lacked a value-borne progression pathway for their career advancement. While technicians can move on to engineering degrees, these often do not aim to provide the combined technical and managerial skills those workers need as technical managers and superintendents for their organisations.

Our Approach

Our consultant’s approach to this project centred around an industry-first methodology, to ensure the qualification would provide the skills and knowledge the industry needs while still satisfying HKCAAVQ qualification requirements.

The process involved mapping out the competence required from a Lift and Escalator Meister, then transforming that into a blended delivery model that placed work-based learning and assessment at its core.

Our consultants also supported VTC through the accreditation process so Hong Kong’s qualification authority could see how work-based learning was equally, if not more, effective than traditional academic methods.

The Outcomes Achieved

The result is a world-leading, industry-developed programme that offers a pathway for Hong Kong’s most experienced lift and escalator technicians to upgrade their technical, managerial and pedagogical skills.