Advertisement

Lawmakers approve early retirement plan for teachers

Reading Time:1 minute
Why you can trust SCMP
0

A $700 million early retirement scheme for surplus primary school teachers was approved by legislators yesterday.

Permanent Secretary for Education and Manpower Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun said ex gratia payments would be provided to the 1,700 teachers expected to retire early in the next three years. They would receive one month's salary for every two years of service, up to a maximum of 12 months' salary. Their retirement would save $900 million a year from the 2006-07 school year.

'We expect the scheme to settle the problem of surplus teachers,' Mrs Law said. There is an oversupply of primary teachers because of the declining birth rate.

Teachers aged under 55 and with more than 10 years' service at government, aided or direct subsidy scheme primary schools with falling pupil numbers will be eligible to apply. Once approved, they will be barred from working again in government schools.

Educators said the scheme would help alleviate the problem of surplus teachers and the shortage of teaching vacancies, but said the government should reduce class sizes in the long run.

The chairman of the Aided Primary Schools Council, Nelson Lau Chi-keung, and the vice-chairman of the Subsidised Primary Schools Council, Lam Sheung-wan, said the scheme should be made more flexible. 'The scheme would be more attractive if applicants [who have] second thoughts can go back to teaching - provided they return the ex gratia payment to the government,' Mr Lau said.

Advertisement