Education concern groups have joined forces to push for more than half of registered members on school boards to be professionals with degrees.
The criterion is omitted from a proposal drawn up by the School-Based Management Committee - an advisory body under the Education Department - to increase accountability of school boards.
'School boards will be the ultimate bodies in policy-making and management for schools,' said Wong Hak-lim, vice-president of the Professional Teachers' Union. 'They should include professional people related to young people's development, such as psychologists and doctors.' The union's views are shared by the Federation of Education Workers, Education Convergence and the Civic Education Co-ordinators' Association.
At present, most office-bearers are appointed because they donate to the schools.
The Education Ordinance does not specify what qualifications board members should have or what the boards' make-up should be.
But laws will be introduced next year to boost professionalism of the bodies as the department decentralises powers to schools under the school-based management programme.