GUIDANCE NOTES
APPLICATION FOR
REGISTRATION AS A TEACHER
A.
Relevant Provisions of the Education Ordinance
1.
Section 42
(1)
No person shall teach in a school
unless he is —
(a)
a registered teacher; or
(b) a permitted teacher.
(2)
No permitted teacher shall teach
in a school otherwise than in accordance with the conditions or limitations
specified in the permit to teach issued in respect of such teacher.
2.
Section 87
(3) Any person who —
(e)
contravenes section 42(1) or (2);
(f)
employs or permits any person to
teach in a school in contravention of section 42(1) or (2),
shall be guilty of an offence
and shall be liable on conviction to a fine at level 5 and to imprisonment for
2 years.
3.
Grounds for refusal to register teacher
Section 46
The Permanent Secretary may
refuse to register an applicant as a teacher if it appears to him that the
applicant —
(a)
is not a fit and proper person to
be a teacher;
(b) has been convicted of an offence punishable with imprisonment;
(c)
is a person in respect of whom a permit
to teach has previously been cancelled;
(d) is medically unfit;
(e)
does not possess the prescribed qualifications;
(f)
has attained the age of 70 years;
or
(g) in making or in connection with any application-
(i)
(Repealed 42 of 1993 s. 17)
(ii)
for registration as a manager or a
teacher; or
(iii)
to employ a person as a permitted
teacher in a school,
has made any statement or
furnished any information which is false in any material particular or by
reason of the omission of any material particular.
4.
Grounds for cancellation of registration
of teacher
Section 47
The Permanent Secretary may cancel the registration of a
teacher —
(a) on any ground specified in section 46 which applies to
the teacher, whether or not such ground existed at the time when he was
registered as a teacher;
(b) if it appears to the Permanent Secretary that the
teacher is incompetent;
(c)
if the teacher has contravened any
provision of this Ordinance;
(d) if it appears to the Permanent Secretary that the
teacher has behaved in any manner which, in the opinion of the Permanent
Secretary, constitutes professional misconduct; or
(e) if it appears to the Permanent Secretary that the
teacher has behaved in any manner which, in the opinion of the Permanent
Secretary, is prejudicial to the maintenance of good order and discipline in
the school in which the teacher teaches.
5.
Section 87
(1)
Any person who —
(k) in or in connection with any application under this Ordinance
makes any statement
or furnishes any information, whether such statement or
information be verbal or written, which is false in any material particular and
which he knows or reasonably ought to know is false in such particular,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on
conviction to a fine of $250,000 and to imprisonment for 2 years.
6.
Education (Exemption) (Private
Schools Offering Non-Formal Curriculum) Order
Under the Exemption Order which comes into operation on 1 July
2004, all private schools that offer non-formal curriculum (private schools
which offer educational courses such as tutorial, commercial, language and
computer courses) are exempted from certain requirements of the provisions of
the Education Ordinance and Regulations relating to employment of teachers,
teachers’ qualifications and other categories subject to compliance with
specified conditions.
B.
Qualifications for Registered
Teacher
The applicant should possess one
of the prescribed qualifications as specified in Part I of the Second Schedule
of the Education Regulations:
(1)
An approved3 degree of a specified institution4 together with an approved teacher’s diploma,
certificate, or like qualification to teach;
(2)
a degree in education of a
specified institution;
(3)
a teacher’s certificate issued by
the Hong Kong Government;
(4)
a Hong Kong Government Normal
School Certificate and 5 years approved teaching experience;
(5)
a Hong Kong Government Evening
Institute teacher’s certificate and 5 years approved teaching experience;
(6)
a certificate of status as
“Qualified Teacher” or “Qualified
Kindergarten Teacher” issued by the
Hong Kong Education Department to a teacher who has completed an approved
course of training and passed a written and practical test, and approved
teaching experience;
(7)
any other educational training and
experience which in the opinion of the Permanent Secretary is equivalent to the
qualifications specified in paragraph (1), (2), (3), (4), (5) or (6). (See Note 1)
For a person who teaches in a school but does not possess the
above prescribed qualification(s), the school should apply for permission to
employ him/her as an unregistered teacher (Form 10 or 11).
C.
Application Procedures
1.
Application forms (Form 8) can be
downloaded/submitted online from the homepage of the Education Bureau (http://www.edb.gov.hk) and are obtainable from the following offices:
(a) Teacher Registration Team Education Bureau
2/F, Trade and Industry Tower 3 Concorde Road
Kowloon
(Tel.: 3467 8282)
3 “approved” means approved by the Permanent Secretary.
4 “specified institution” means the
Lingnan University, The Education University of Hong Kong, the University of
Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, The Chinese University of Hong
Kong, the Hong Kong Baptist University, the City University of Hong Kong, The
Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, The Hong Kong Metropolitan
University and any Post Secondary College registered under the Post Secondary
Colleges Ordinance.
(b)
Regional Education Offices
2.
The applicant should complete Form
8 in block letters and in black ink and affix a recent photograph (see Note 2)
in the space provided. This form, together with photocopies of Hong Kong
Identity Card, academic and professional qualification certificates and other
related documents of the applicant should be sent by registered post to the Teacher Registration Team, Education Bureau at 2/F, Trade and Industry Tower, 3 Concorde Road, Kowloon (see Note
3). Please ensure that sufficient postage is paid to avoid unsuccessful
delivery of application. Any underpaid mail items will be disposed
of by the Hongkong Post.
3.
Under section 2(1) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Ordinance
(Cap 297), where (i) an individual has been convicted in Hong Kong of an
offence in respect of which he was not sentenced to imprisonment exceeding
three months or to a fine exceeding $10,000; (ii) he has not been convicted in
Hong Kong on any earlier day of the offence; and (iii) a period of three years
has elapsed without that individual being again convicted in Hong Kong of an
offence, then any question asked of that individual or any other person
relating to, or any obligation imposed on that individual or any other person
to disclose, that individual’s previous convictions, offences, conduct or
circumstances shall be treated as not referring to that conviction. However, by virtue of section 4(2)(b),
this shall not apply to any question asked by or on behalf of any person, in
the course of the duties of his office or employment, or any obligation to
disclose information to that person in the course of those duties, in order to
assess the suitability of another person for the registration, or to continue
to be registered under any law (i.e. including the Education Ordinance (Cap
279)). The applicant is therefore required to disclose all previous
convictions, including spent conviction(s), if any, in completing paragraph 1(m) of the application form.
4.
The applicant may be invited to
attend an interview. He/She is required to bring along all original
documents and photocopies as specified in paragraph 2 above for
verification (see Note 3). If the applicant is a serving teacher of a
kindergarten, private primary/secondary, aided, caput, Direct Subsidy Scheme,
international or English Schools Foundation school, the photocopies of the
documents as specified in paragraph 2 above can be endorsed (see Note 4)
by his/her school supervisor/principal and interview will not be required. (For
details, please refer to the EDB Circular on Revised Procedures for Teacher Registration currently in force.)
5.
After processing, the successful
applicant will be issued a Certificate of Registration As A Teacher (Form 9) and the Certificate will
be sent by registered post.
D.
Change of Contact Information
1.
Teachers are required to notify the EDB in writing within 1
month of any changes in contact information, including correspondence address
and phone number.
2.
When the EDB reviews the teachers’
registration status, we may take further action or make a decision in respect
of the teachers’ registration status without considering their representation
if we fail to serve the relevant letters (including inviting representations
from the teachers, informing them of the follow-up actions or decisions, etc.)
to the teachers according to the latest correspondence address provided.
3.
Request for change of contact
information should be made in writing to Teacher
Registration Team at 2/F, Trade and Industry Tower, 3 Concorde Road, Kowloon.
Note 1
Non-local educational qualifications
If an applicant possesses non-local
academic/professional qualifications, the following documents are required :
(a)
copies of academic and
professional qualification certificates and
(b)
copy of qualifications assessment
report issued by HKCAAVQ or other
document(s) related to qualifications assessment (for applicant who possesses
local certificate of professional qualification, qualifications assessment
report is not required for the purpose of application for registration as a teacher).
Note
2 Photograph
One recent
full-face photograph of the applicant is required to be affixed to the
application form. The size of the photograph must be 5 cm x 3.8 cm. It
should be printed on normal thin photographic paper and has not been
used.
Note
3
The
application will not be further processed if the applicant does not provide the
necessary document(s) within three months from the date of our written notice.
Note 4
Each endorsed photocopy of the required documents
should contain the following information:
(a)
School supervisor/principal’s
signature (photocopied or stamped signature is not accepted) against the words
“Original Seen”;
(b)
School supervisor/principal’s name
and post;
(c)
School name (or school chop) and
(d)
Date of sighting the original documents.
Personal Information Collection
Statement
Purpose of Collection
1. The personal data provided by you in this form will be
used by the EDB for one or more of the following purposes:
(a) Activities relating to the processing, authentication
and counter-checking of the application for registration of teachers;
(b) Activities relating to matching of the personal data
with the database of other relevant Government bureaux/departments in
connection with the processing, authentication and counter-checking of the
application mentioned in (a) above;
(c) Activities relating to matching of the personal data
within the database of EDB for purposes of verifying/updating records of the EDB;
(d) Activities relating to training and development
including invitation of participation in programmes/activities, applications
for reimbursement of course fees, assessment of nominations, awards and
scholarship, and monitoring of attainment progress;
(e) Activities relating to the processing and vetting of
applications for, and disbursement
of, funding/ grants/subsidies, and conducting of audits;
(f) Activities relating to compilation of statistics,
research and Government publications; and
(g) Activities relating to the administration and
enforcement of rules and regulations including the Education Ordinance (Cap.
279), its subsidiary legislation (such as the Education Regulations and the
Grant/Subsidized Schools Provident Fund Rules) and the Codes of Aid.
2. The provision of personal data required by this form
and during the processing of this form is obligatory. In the event that you do
not provide those personal data, we may not be able to handle or further
process the application.
Classes of Transferees
3.
The personal data you provide will be made available to persons working in EDB. Apart from this, they may be transferred or disclosed
to the parties or in the circumstances listed
below:
(a)
other Government bureau and
departments, including Hong Kong Police Force, for the purposes mentioned in
paragraph 1 above;
(b)
the school in which the form
relates for the purposes mentioned in paragraph 1 above;
(c)
where you have given your
prescribed consent to such disclosure; and
(d)
where such disclosure is
authorised or required under the law or court order applicable to Hong Kong.
Access to Personal Data
4. You have the right to request access to and correction of
your personal data held by EDB. Request for access or correction of
personal data should be made in writing to Teacher
Registration Team at 2/F, Trade and Industry Tower, 3 Concorde Road, Kowloon.
