A senior academic quit as an adviser to the Government, saying it did not respect teachers.
Professor Cheng Kai-ming, chairman of the Council on Professional Conduct in Education, said he wanted to tell the public that the council was useless and for him to stay 'would be meaningless'.
Professor Cheng is the University of Hong Kong's pro-vice-chancellor and has the chair of education. He has been chairman of the council since it was established in 1994.
The Education Commission recommended setting up the council to advise on disputes or alleged professional misconduct involving teachers.
The council was also intended to advise the Government on how to promote professional conduct and to draft criteria expected of a teacher.
But Professor Cheng said the council had always been in a difficult position.
'It has been charged with a responsibility which is almost impossible in the absence of a General Teaching Council,' he said. 'Its limited terms of reference are further constrained by their legal implications as interpreted by the Government.' He said the council had received 29 complaints involving teachers, principals, students and their parents, but it could not discipline anyone because it did not have any legal power or support from the Education Department.