The Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Patrick Nip, today (August 9) met with non-ethnic Chinese (NEC) students participating in a government internship programme to learn about their internship experience and takeaways. He encouraged them to keep up their efforts to enrich themselves so as to meet the challenges ahead.
Mr Nip said that, the Civil Service Bureau (CSB) had launched this internship programme specifically for NEC students since 2019, to assist young NEC in acquiring work experience and enhancing their competitiveness for employment. The programme has been well received and so far around 80 post-secondary NEC students have taken part in the programme.
"NEC are very much a part of Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government is committed to promoting equal opportunities for NEC and helping them, particularly their younger generation, to unleash their potential and thrive in society," Mr Nip said.
"To increase government job opportunities for NEC, the CSB has all along been reminding Heads of Departments and Grades to review on an on-going basis and ensure that the Chinese language proficiency requirements of related civil service jobs are no more than necessary for the performance of the job, so that NEC people would have equal access to government job opportunities like other applicants.
"The Government has also strengthened its promotional efforts, hoping to enable NEC to gain a better understanding of civil service job opportunities and the operation of the Government with a view to attracting them to join the civil service and serve society. This internship programme is one of our notable measures."
This year, a total of 35 NEC students have been posted to various government bureaux and departments for an internship lasting about eight weeks. Some placements were relevant to the provision of public services to NEC communities and required knowledge of NEC languages or cultures. The participants generally hold the view that the internship programme has broadened their exposure and enabled them to obtain a more in-depth understanding of the Government's efforts in supporting NEC communities.
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