Hong Kong teachers should report ‘problematic’ study materials to superiors, education minister says
- Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung also says school authorities should be held accountable over any failure in gatekeeping duties
- The Education Bureau has a ‘responsibility to safeguard the quality’ of the city’s teachers, he adds
Hong Kong teachers have a responsibility to report “problematic” study materials to superiors, and school authorities should be held accountable over any failure in gatekeeping duties, according to the city’s education minister.
Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung was responding to opposition lawmaker and Professional Teachers’ Union (PTU) vice-president Ip Kin-yuen’s question on whether his bureau’s decision to penalise five colleagues of a teacher – deregistered over class materials that touched on Hong Kong independence in September – was a form of “collective punishment”, and whether it would apply to others.
Three of his colleagues who taught the content in class were given warning letters, while the former principal and vice-principal of the school were reprimanded for lax supervision.
“If teachers receive problematic teaching materials, they should report the matter to their supervisors so amendments could be made,” Yeung said. “If they stay silent, they should be held responsible.”
The bureau also rebutted a survey conducted by the PTU in which more than 70 per cent of 125 city school principals said the teacher’s deregistration lacked sufficient justification and had a negative impact on institutions. The union said some principals questioned the bureau’s definition of spreading Hong Kong independence.
