Q Should a maximum limit be set for teachers' working hours - and how many?
Instead of maximum work hours, which is almost impossible to monitor, how about maximum student-class hours - say 100 hours per teacher. So for an average of 40 students a class, the teacher will have no more than 2.5 hours of class time a day, or for a more civilised 25-student class, four hours of class time a day.
And for each extra-curricular activity, from basketball coaching to the English-debating team, from the Chinese calligraphy club to the Saturday morning tutoring session, there will be a stipend, set competitively to ensure interest. Teachers compete for the extra duty sponsorship as they do their regular job, on the basis of their own available time, as they see fit.
This is the way the civilised world does it. It's high time the Hong Kong education system joined the rest of the world.
David Auyeung, Sha Tin
Q Should penalties for cruelty to animals be increased?