Hong Kong teachers must promote national education under revamped code of conduct
- New code of conduct requires teachers to report potential illegal activities or ‘morally deviant information’
- Schools also required to compile investigation report for authorities on complaints against teachers, who will be given 14 days to respond
Hong Kong teachers must actively promote national education and report potential illegal activities or “morally deviant information” under the government’s revised code of conduct for the profession, with failure to do so potentially triggering deregistration.
Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin said the revised code, which was announced on Thursday, provided clearer guidelines for teachers.
“We have stated the bottom line clearly for teachers to comprehend, it won’t just be empty principles. This should help them,” Choi said.
The former administration pledged to revise the code after lawmakers accused some teachers of taking part or inciting students to take part in illegal activities during the 2019 social unrest.
The government in May also dissolved a self-regulatory body, the Council on Professional Conduct in Education, that investigated complaints for almost three decades, after it was accused of handling the unrest-related complaints too slowly.