TWENTY education groups have warned the Government against using a new scheme to attract overseas non-graduates as a quick-fix alternative to boosting teacher training.
The 20 associations and unions - including the Hongkong Professional Teachers Union, the Education Action Group, Technical Institutes Teachers' Association and student unions of the four colleges - met last week in what is believed to be the largest gathering of education groups on any issue.
The Association of Lecturers at Colleges of Education president, Mr Gregory Lam Shu-wing, said yesterday the gathering indicated the groups' concern about the new Non-graduate Teacher Qualifications Assessment Scheme.
He said they welcomed it as a way to overcome the shortage of teachers and fulfil Governor Mr Chris Patten's pledge to cut class sizes from 40 to 35 by providing 780 more teachers for the 1993-94 school year and another 1,420 by 1997.
''But we are concerned that it was done in a hurry. There could be oversights which affect the profession and lower the standard of education in Hongkong, so the students suffer,'' he said.
''We want to see far more effort put into planning and preparation for the scheme and into maintaining exacting standards through the testing mechanism.'' Mr Lam said the groups wanted an assurance that the standards required would equal those of local college graduates.
''We don't want the assessment scheme to be a backdoor for unqualified people to plug holes. This would be unfair to future graduates and lower the attraction of local teacher colleges. That would also be very bad for Hongkong because teacher training affects the standard of education.'' The groups wanted the scheme tightened to include a deadline for overseas non-graduates to complete formal teacher training.
