Two hundred teachers and students yesterday protested over the sacking of lecturers at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. Of the more than 30 lecturers told to leave immediately last month, only one science department academic is known to have been reinstated at the Tai Po institute after the sacked staff lodged appeals last week. Eighteen of the lecturers whose appeals failed are considering seeking a judicial review to overturn the ruling. The Federation of Hong Kong Higher Education Staff Associations is raising money for collective legal action. Yesterday, more than 200 lecturers and students led by the Professional Teachers' Union staged a walkout and silent sit-in protest on the campus. Union president and legislator Cheung Man-kwong said: 'What the institute is doing is trampling on teachers' dignity. We will collect signatures from teachers at all kindergartens, primary and secondary schools to support the lecturers.' Kevin Lui Wai-ching, of the science department, who lost his appeal, said: 'The school still couldn't give me a reason for making me redundant, although they said my presentation was marvellous.' English department lecturer John Walsh said: 'It has been very badly managed. People's dignity and basic human feelings are not respected. We are seen as statistics rather than humans. I'm not sure if I want my job back.' The lecturers were told to stop teaching immediately by a consultancy firm commissioned by the institute two weeks after the new term resumed. The school said they were made redundant because their skills would not match its future needs and that they did not have certain academic qualifications. They are entitled to the government pension scheme. Institute director Dr Ruth Hayhoe said: 'It's heartbreaking to have to make them go. But we need people who are able to teach at a university level as our institute is to be upgraded to a university. It's a complex issue requiring academic and professional judgment rather than just a mechanical exercise.' The institute will become a university in 2004/05.