Hong Kong to train more teachers amid 50 per cent rise in number of educators without postgraduate diploma, high turnover
- Education Bureau says it will increase intake to sought-after postgraduate diploma in bid to boost sector’s flagging figures
- Around 3,000 serving teachers in the last academic year had not yet completed the diploma, up from 2,000 in 2018-19
Hong Kong authorities will increase the intake to teacher training programmes after the number of serving educators who had yet to complete the necessary postgraduate courses soared 50 per cent in the past three years, while schools struggle with increased staff turnover.
The Education Bureau told the Post there were around 3,000 teachers who had not yet obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) in the last academic year, up from 2,500 in the previous 12 months.
There were only 2,000 teachers working without the diploma in 2018-19.
According to principals, university graduates without the qualification could still apply for positions, but their salaries would be determined by schools instead of following a government pay scale designed for fully trained, regular teachers.
The bureau told schools in a letter this week that the University of Hong Kong, Chinese University and the Education University of Hong Kong would increase the intake of the part-time PGDE programme in some subjects for the next two academic years given the “higher than expected” number of untrained teachers.
Extra funding for the additional places will be provided by the bureau through the University Grants Committee. But the bureau did not disclose the number of places or the amount of funding involved.
