Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung today said it is unacceptable for teachers to participate in unlawful activities and the Education Bureau will handle such cases in accordance with the law.
Replying to questions at the Legislative Council, Mr Yeung noted that the Committee on Professional Development of Teachers & Principals launched the T-standard+ in 2018.
T-standard+ portrays the professional performance expected of school teachers and principals, with a view to promoting the professional learning of the teaching force, upholding professional ethics of the teaching profession, and demonstrating high moral standards and values.
Mr Yeung said when handling suspected misconduct cases of teachers, the bureau draws reference from the T-standard+ and the Code for the Education Profession of Hong Kong.
“More importantly, we take into account whether the words and deeds of the teachers concerned fail to meet the moral standards generally acceptable to the society, whether they risk the safety and harm the healthy development of students, and whether the values so demonstrated will have an adverse impact on the dignity of the teaching profession or students' learning and undermine the public's confidence in teachers.”
Regarding the 269 complaints about professional misconduct of teachers relating to the social turmoil, as at the end of April, the bureau has cancelled three teachers' registration and issued reprimand letters, warning letters, advisory letters and verbal reminders to 151 teachers.
As for a lawmaker's suggestion to expressly prohibit teachers from participating in unlawful activities, inciting or organising students to participate in unlawful activities, promoting their personal political opinions to students, as well as publishing radical, hatred-inciting or misrepresented remarks on the Internet, Mr Yeung said such actions from teachers will not be accepted, be they spelt out in any code or not.
The bureau has been handling these cases in a serious manner in accordance with the Education Ordinance, he said.
The education chief pointed out the bureau plans to regularly release the related numbers, with examples of cases to illustrate the penalties against misconducted teachers and the considerations involved for the public's information and schools' reference.
“This would help schools strengthen the management of teachers and remind teachers to be more sensitive in their words and abide by regulations and the law,” he added.
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