Overseas-trained teachers let off English test

Exemptions from English benchmark tests have been granted to 120 foreign-qualified teachers who had been told they would have to sit the controversial exams.

The Professional Teachers Union (PTU) said the change of heart demonstrated that the Education Department had initially been too strict when it came to granting exemptions.

Teachers with a degree in English or an English-related discipline who have had education training are automatically exempt from the language proficiency test, launched this March. The Education Department issued a list of recognised local qualifications, but overseas graduates need to apply for exemption individually.

Appeals against the decision that they would have to sit the test were launched by 134 teachers with foreign qualifications, with 120 succeeding. A total of 2,080 teachers have applied for exemptions, which have been granted to 1,560 applicants.

Speaking for the 75,000-strong PTU, Chik Pun-shing said: 'The Education Department has been too rigid in granting the exemptions and has overlooked some degree-equivalent qualifications.'

Twelve graduates of the Institute of Linguists, a British-based organisation founded in 1919 that awards diplomas in Chinese and English, were among those who won exemption on appeal. Institute representatives helped argue their graduates' case.