Lawmakers back union call for more permanent teachers
Fear of losing jobs is damaging how children are being taught, says union, but bureau chief says non-permanent positions mean flexibility
Lawmakers have backed a call by educators for the Education Bureau to increase the number of permanent teachers in the city's schools.
Speaking at yesterday's panel meeting, Cheung Yiu-fai, director of the Professional Teachers' Union, said teachers on short-term contracts were worried about their job security, and this affected pupils' education.
He said that of 400 advertisements for teachers in two major newspapers between May 2 and May 11, just nine were for permanent jobs.
"If our students are taught by teachers who do not have a sense of job security … and do not have peace of mind, how can we expect their students to receive a good education?" Cheung said.
He said if the ratio of pupils to teachers excluded contract teachers it would be 19.5:1, not the 14.5:1 the government claims. The ratio excluding contract teachers was higher than elsewhere in East Asia, he said.
Ip Kin-yuen, who represents the education sector in Legco, said the growing number of contract jobs and teaching assistant positions had seen starting salaries plummet.
"How can the education industry have sustainable development in this way? And how can we attract talented youngsters to do teacher training?" he said.
Education chief Eddie Ng Hak-kim said the bureau would gather more opinions on staffing.
"Regular teaching staff account for a large part of manpower, but after discussions with the education sector and principals, they want to have some teaching staff not in regular positions to have more flexibility," he said.
The lawmakers also backed a call for the government to continue its grants to schools to support the teaching of liberal studies. The government announced last year that it would not continue the HK$320,000 grant given to each school as less than half of the money had been spent in the two years since the grants were introduced.
Representatives from the Professional Development Association for Liberal Studies said the grant was needed to provide more manpower and ease the burden of staff.
The liberal studies curriculum aims to encourage critical thinking and includes current affairs. It is a compulsory subject in the Diploma of Secondary Education.
"In order to closely follow current affairs, teachers need a lot of time to research the materials and update them regularly … we hope the government continues the subsidy for liberal studies," association vice-president Ho Ka-him said.
Ng said the liberal studies grant had only been intended to operate for a limited time.
