Nearly a quarter of English-language teachers will not have to take the controversial benchmark test, in an apparent attempt to reduce opposition to the policy.
A document from the Advisory Committee on Teachers' Education Qualifications says it is to grant exemptions to about 3,500 out of more than 14,700 English teachers, around 23.8 per cent, in primary and secondary schools.
Education concern groups previously estimated only one in seven teachers could escape the language assessment, to be launched in October. But the document does not give details about eligibility for exemptions, which are expected to be announced next month.
The Education and Manpower Bureau said earlier that teachers who specialised in English or a related discipline at university and had received training in education would be automatically exempted. Further details are being drawn up by a government-appointed working group.
Ho Hon-kuen, vice-chairman of concern group Education Convergence, said: 'It looks like the Government is being quite lenient in granting the exemption, and it's been doing more and more to calm teachers.'
About 25 per cent of English-language teachers in secondary schools and almost half of those in primary schools do not have an English degree, an Education Department survey showed.
