I refer to Amnesty's open letter to the Secretary for Education and Manpower ('Society cannot teach enshrined human rights', October 6) which took issue with the decision to commission the Society for Truth and Light to provide human-rights education for school teachers.
I agree with Amnesty that human- rights education is fundamental in the promotion and protection of basic human rights. That is why we have commissioned this introductory course to enhance teachers' general understanding and awareness of human-rights issues.
The course is designed to emphasise the adoption of an impartial stance and multiple perspectives to study human rights. The service provider is required to offer courses which promote a balanced point of view without imposing its own stance on human-rights issues.
Let me emphasise that bigotry and prejudices have no place in a modern society. The Education and Manpower Bureau (EMB) has adopted an open tendering process in selecting a human-rights education provider. Existing tendering procedures require that tenders should be evaluated on the basis of the course design, the expertise of the speakers and the experience of the organiser. The tender that meets the requirements and has the lowest asking price will be selected.
The values and political orientation of the tenderers do not come into the equation and should not be subjectively judged. I believe Amnesty would agree that this is an important principle that we must uphold to ensure open and fair competition in all tendering exercises. After all, the society has been critical of some government policies in the past.
We have clearly stipulated in the tender document and the service contract that the training provider must be impartial in conducting the course, and present multiple perspectives in discussing controversial human-rights issues. Furthermore, to safeguard the quality of the programmes delivered:
The training provider has to submit the course outline to the EMB for its endorsement before the commencement of teaching;