Training Needs in GenAI for Teachers of Vocational and Professional Education and Training in Hong Kong

Apart from functioning as a technological enhancement, Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) introduces a new form of mediation in which intelligent systems actively participate in knowledge construction, feedback generation, and learning interactions. Whilst the debates about the advantages and drawbacks of GenAI are ongoing, limited attention has been paid to how these developments impact pedagogical practice and teachers’ competence. This paper focuses on the training needs in GenAI for teachers of vocational and professional education and training (VPET) in Hong Kong. A study was conducted in 2025 to investigate their training needs, benefits, perceptions of GenAI in education, and acceptance of applying GenAI in teaching practice. Currently, there are around 4,000 teachers in Hong Kong’s 20 + self-financing VPET institutions. The survey adopted a questionnaire with nine closed-ended items on a 6-point Likert scale for quantity feedback and one open-ended item for qualitative feedback. The survey questionnaire was sent to 19 self-financing VPET education institutions’ full-time teaching staff (n = 2000) via emails with designated individual feedback link. 231 completed questionnaires (n = 231) were returned. The collected data was interpreted by mean and frequency distribution. The result and analysis revealed that while teachers are enthusiastic about GenAI’s potential, their actual adoption of GenAI in teaching remains limited where significant barriers persist. The findings highlight some implications in teaching practice as well as concerns about policy and governance in the incorporation of GenAI into education. Implications of this study rest in the following few aspects, 1) Capabilities and Competences Building; 2) AI Guidelines, Policies and Governances; and 3) Research on the effectiveness of the AI training programme for teachers.