Letters | Hong Kong parents have a right to be informed about teacher misconduct

The Education Bureau would not be unique in publishing the results of its investigation into complaints against teachers, as the Teaching Regulation Agency in England does so as well

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Hong Kong teachers rally for complete withdrawal of the extradition bill at Charter Garden in Central on August 17, 2019. Since the protests, concerns have increasingly been raised in some quarters about teachers politicising the school environment and promoting independence. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 6:15am, 28 Oct 2020Updated: 6:15am, 28 Oct 2020

Professor Peter Baehr (“How far will we go in shaming city’s teachers?” October 22) asked if “803 partisans” will drop in on universities’ Zoom-relayed lectures. The answer is no.

The judicial review application of 803 Funds does not concern universities. It aims at upholding the rights of parents and protecting minors in kindergartens, primary schools and secondary schools that are under the purview of the Education Bureau.

We believe that parents have the right to be informed of disqualification and reprimand, etc, of teachers after complaints against them for professional misconduct have been substantiated at the end of investigations by the bureau. In similar situations, the Teaching Regulation Agency in England, for example, publishes the full names of teachers and schools.

Contrary to Professor Baehr’s claims, 803 Funds has not been “established to root out anti-government, criminal protesters”. We are a crime-stopper that offers rewards for information that leads to the arrest of offenders, regardless of their political stance. A glance at our website will show that we have offered rewards on cases in which “pro-democracy” politicians were attacked.

I thank Professor Baehr for his invitation to a debate. It would be useful if he could make it a three-way debate and invite the Honourable Ip Kin-yuen, vice-chairman of the Professional Teachers’ Union, to join. The motion should simply be “Parents should be kept in the dark”. I shall speak against it.