Letters | Help Hong Kong retain native English teachers by addressing retirement age

Readers discuss Hong Kong’s difficulty in retaining native English teachers, questions around how NGOs spend their money and using barges as a housing solution

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A teacher speaks to students during class at a primary school in Tsing Yi on April 22. The high rate of turnover among native English teachers in Hong Kong could be exacerbated by their facing a lower retirement age than their local counterparts. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 2:30pm, 15 Jul 2022

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I am writing in response to the turnover rate of native English teachers (NETs) in Hong Kong (“Hong Kong must do more to retain native English teachers”, July 2). I turned 60 after 16 happy years as an NET, including 10 years at my last school.

Given the attrition rate of NETs, it seems strange to me that NETs must still retire at 60 while civil servants, including local teachers, can work to 65 after the law was changed in 2015.

In fact, the English Schools Foundation recently increased the retirement age to 70.

The Education Department’s approach seems counterproductive given the continuing travel restrictions. I am sure it is more expensive and difficult to find inexperienced NETs who are unfamiliar with education in Hong Kong as opposed to retaining existing ones, especially as a significant number of NETs leave in their first year or two.

Never one to give up, I approached the Education Bureau to reapply to the NET scheme. I was told that I could only reapply after five years, which would make me 66. It seems that my desire to continue to work in Hong Kong and serve its students, as well as my success in the NET scheme, amounts to nothing.