China News Service, Hong Kong, January 19. The Education Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government announced on the 19th that the Council on Professional Conduct for Educational Personnel (Council) will officially end on May 1 this year.
It is reported that the council was established in April 1994. Its terms of reference include advising the government on improving the conduct of education professionals; formulating a set of application guidelines to define the conduct that educators should have; Disputes or cases of alleged misconduct, advise the Permanent Secretary for Education, etc.
A spokesman for the Education Bureau said that with the continuous development of the services of the government and educational professional bodies over the past 30 years, the Council's role in maintaining teachers' professional integrity and promoting teachers' continuous professional development is no longer the same as when it was established. After consulting the Education Commission (EC), it was decided that the council will officially end when the term of the current members expires on April 30.
The spokesman said that in the past, anyone who found a teacher suspected of professional immorality could lodge a complaint with the Education Bureau or the council.
Once the council has completed the case, it will submit the report and recommendations to the Education Bureau.
From mid-June 2019 to the end of 2020, the Education Bureau has received a total of 269 complaints about teachers' professional ethics in relation to the "Amendment". Except for individual cases involving judicial procedures, the Education Bureau has completed all cases.
At the same time, the Council received a total of 6 related complaints involving 4 teachers, but so far the case has not been submitted to the Education Bureau for handling.
The spokesman said that the public is very concerned about the professional conduct of teachers, and it is urgent to deal with cases of teachers' misconduct. For cases that have not been completed by the Council, the Education Bureau will contact relevant parties to follow up, and will continue to do a good job in checking to ensure that all approved cases are The teachers who teach in the school are all fit and proper persons.
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