Teachers’ conduct guidelines issued

The Education Bureau today issued the Guidelines on Teachers’ Professional Conduct to stipulate the professional conduct and norms of behaviour required of teachers.   To protect students’ well-being and safeguard the education profession, national security and social order, the bureau encourages teachers to have self-awareness and self-discipline to abide by the guidelines.   Teachers’ words and deeds, conduct and values have a profound impact on students, the bureau said, stressing that the pursuit of professionalism and commitment to upholding high moral standards should be well integrated such that students can be nurtured with correct moral values.   When formulating the guidelines, the bureau took into account the actual situation of Hong Kong’s education system and the existing legislation, cited documents related to teachers’ professional development, and made reference to the standards for teachers’ professionalism in different countries and regions.   Eight codes of professional conduct were then compiled, requiring teachers to uphold professional belief, honour the rule of law, be a role model, uphold probity and integrity, be committed and responsible, care for students, respect privacy, and safeguard professionalism.    Apart from providing examples of the dos and don’ts with respect to each code of professional conduct, the guidelines also set out the mechanism for handling suspected professional misconduct.   Meanwhile at the school level, school sponsoring bodies may refer to the guidelines and give directives to the school governance authorities under their sponsorship. The school governance authorities may then make use of the guidelines to devise measures for staff behaviour management, professional development plans as well as commendation of teachers with excellent performance.   Teachers’ registration will be reviewed based on the guidelines, the bureau added.
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