Mr Law told Offbeat that the key recommendation of the review is replacing the PC 5th and 10th Year Development Courses with new Modular PC Development Courses.

The review included focus group meetings and questionnaire surveys to ascertain the training needs of police constables. The views of Force senior management were also sought.

The review concluded that the contents of the PC development courses can be further strengthened, and the courses can be turned into four modules. Module I on professional development, II on personal effectiveness and III on psychological competencies are compulsory, while Module IV on supervisory development is optional. They will replace the PC 5th & 10th Year Development Courses.

Chief Inspector Johnson Kwok Hay-lung of PC Training JPO DLD, said that a Force-wide consultation on the proposed change of PC development courses was conducted in September and October 2004 among Major Formation Commanders, Formation Commanders and JPOA. A consultation paper was also put on Force Notice Board to invite comments from interested officers. Comments have been received from a wide spectrum of officers, ranging from PC to CSP. A great majority of the respondents agreed with the proposed changes.

The modular training format will be implemented by phases between next month and April 2007. Phase I will commence next month when Module I and Module IV are introduced. Phase II will be implemented in April 2006 with Module II. Phase III, the last phase, will be implemented in April 2007 with Module III. By the end of this phase, all the three compulsory modules and the optional module will have been launched for trainees.

Looking ahead, both Mr Law and Mr Kwok envisaged that implementation of the new development courses will not only provide a higher quality of training for police constables, but also may win accreditation and recognition by tertiary institutions in the future - in line with one of the Force's training objectives of professionalising Force training and seeking academic accreditation or recognition wherever possible.

FTO Law Chun-hung (right) and CIP Kwok Hay-lung discussing the new Modular PC Development Courses