Some teachers have complained that training requirements demanded by their heads add to their workload or may be irrelevant to their teaching. But Professor Cheng is adamant that the policy is now paying dividends, and urges teachers to embrace continuous professional development as part of their responsibility to the profession.

He explained why. 'The past five years of education reform have changed the discourse among educators. For example they are now talking about learning, rather than study; about diverse learning rather than subjects; of how students prepare for their futures rather than just exams,' he said.

Teachers also needed to interact more with the wider community, from parents to visiting artists.

'All this is possible only because more teachers have undertaken learning that has opened their eyes beyond school and the work in front of them,' he said.

The new senior secondary structure to be implemented from 2009 added to the pressure for them to embrace change. '3+3+4 requires teachers to be able to be flexible rather than follow rules, regulations and syllabuses. That is not easy. It requires a conceptual jump,' he said.

They needed to grasp how learning for their students was now about understanding, how subject boundaries were blurring, and to face the diverse needs of their students, he said. They also had to understand the nature of authentic assessment - what tests and exams really meant.

'All these things were not necessary before the reforms: teachers just gave doses from the syllabuses so student could regurgitate for exams,' he said.

The objective of the framework that ACTEQ had put in place was to instill in teachers more room for decision making and professional development.

Teachers don't have to enroll in formal courses. Many are clocking up the hours by attending one-off workshops and seminars. But Professor Cheng said that the fact that courses offered by local and overseas providers were over-subscribed showed there was huge commitment among teachers to their more in-depth development. External courses and professional development in schools had parallel roles to play.

'If you are doing a master's or PhD the learning is more systematic and long-term, so you develop a capacity in a particular direction through guided learning. Continuous professional development is very much ongoing. It is about baseline upgrading for short-term needs.'

Professor Cheng said that many teachers now recognised that a postgraduate diploma in education was no longer enough. 'More people are looking for a master's degree,' he said. 'It has become a necessity for school teachers who are looking for promotion.'

Education courses were also attracting a large number of people who were not teachers. Some might be mature students enrolling in a PGDE course in order to switch careers into teaching. Professor Cheng said schools were more ready to welcome teachers who had other work experience than they had in the past.

Some were not teachers, but involved in education management, or would eventually work outside the education sector. The skills learnt, for instance in communication, were transferable, he said.

Students have many options at master's level, specialising in anything from educational psychology to applied linguistics.

'A master's does not give a teacher any professional accreditation. But it enhances their academic credentials,' Professor Cheng said.

At the higher levels, students could choose between PhDs or doctorates of education.

'PhDs and DEds are very different types of study,' he said. The former involved the creation of new knowledge, the latter filled gaps in practice, with a high intellectual underpinning. DEds often ended with a dissertation, usually practical action research or a project meant for implementation to inform improvements in school.

Doctoral studies were attracting an increasingly diverse range of candidates. 'Some are school principals. Others are facilitating other people's learning, such as those interested in running a school. Others have nothing to do with education but are interested in it,' he said.

Who runs courses

Hong Kong Baptist University; HKBU SCE; City University of Hong Kong; CityU Scope; Chinese University of Hong Kong; CUHK SCS; Hong Kong Institute of Education; Hong Kong Polytechnic University Speed; University of Hong Kong; HKU Space; Open University; British Council