Nearly 85 per cent of teachers never used e-mail accounts provided by the Education Department, with many complaining they were full of junk mail from officials, a survey showed.
The department's scheme to give free e-mail accounts to all teachers in public sector schools was a waste of resources, concluded Education Convergence, which carried out the survey in May.
All teachers were provided with free e-mail accounts in January. The department hoped communication with teachers would be improved through school circulars and messages to teachers via e-mail.
Eighty-one per cent of principals and teachers communicated with each other by e-mail, but only 15.7 per cent of the 1,137 interviewees used the e-mail accounts provided by the department.
Only 61 teachers used these accounts as their sole e-mail accounts. Of those who had never used them, 21 per cent complained that the department sent them too many unrelated messages.
Education Convergence chairman Choi Kwok-kwong said he often received messages concerning primary schools and kindergartens despite teaching in a secondary school. He urged a review of the scheme.