Systemic reform necessary to handle misconduct of educators
The recent controversies surrounding the professional misconduct of some teachers have drawn widespread public concern about the ethics and professional integrity of those educators, whose political indoctrination will have a negative impact on the entire education system and the next generation. These controversies provide an opportunity for us to discuss how to build a more competent system that handles the professional conduct of teachers.
The public’s right to know is one of the subjects that needs to be addressed. According to government statistics from June 2019 to May 2020, there were about 10 tertiary educators and about 100 primary and secondary school teachers arrested in public incidents. Meanwhile, from June 2019 to August 2020, the Education Bureau received 247 complaints against teachers who allegedly engaged in professional misconduct. It has revoked the registration of one of the teachers and reprimanded 21 others. However, the basic information of those who violated the law or code of conduct, such as their names and workplaces, was not disclosed. As a result, the public, especially parents, were left unable to know if their children were adequately protected from those misbehaving teachers.
In addition, there are clearly shortfalls in the mechanism for handling professional conduct of educators. For example, the Council on Professional Conduct in Education, which is authorized to advise the Permanent Secretary for Education on cases of disputes or alleged professional misconduct involving educators, was described in the Report on Review of the Present Framework and Mechanism for Promoting and Upholding Teachers’ Professional Conduct, published in 2015, as not having devoted sufficient time and effort to enhancing the professional conduct of teachers. In the past 20 years, it processed only 30 out of 436 complaints, or less than 7 percent of the total. Some complaints were withdrawn because the CPCE made them wait for too long.
The public, on the other hand, are doubtful that schools have conducted effective reviews of these cases or taken preventive measures according to the Guidelines for Handling School Complaints, issued by the Education Bureau, which requires schools to “learn from past experiences, improve their handling of complaints against teachers and avoid similar cases from recurring”. Statistics listed above show that instances of professional misconduct associated with social and political movements are not isolated cases, and the problems should be attributed to the education system itself. Schools, rather than individual teachers, should keenly supervise their faculty to prevent such cases from happening again.
The professional conduct of teachers has a knock-on effect on the education system. In order to remedy the ailing education sector, systematic reform must happen sooner rather than later. An example of this can be found in the Teaching Regulation Agency of the United Kingdom. The TRA is the executive agency of the Ministry of Education of the British government and runs a Professional Conduct Panel through public recruitment to investigate teachers suspected of misconduct. When the investigation is complete, the panel will advise on whether the teachers in question should be deregistered.
The TRA has clear requirements on the investigation process and hearings. Once it has decided to conduct investigations, it will not only formally inform the teachers in question and specify the allegations against them but also advise them to seek counseling from legal professionals or union representatives. They have a total of four weeks to respond to the allegation, or submit a school investigation report to the TRA to defend themselves. Generally speaking, the hearings conducted by the Professional Conduct Panel are open to the public and media. If the alleged misconduct is found to be true, the investigation result will be made public, even if the teachers in question are not deregistered in the end.
The sharp increase in the number of teachers found guilty of professional misconduct and/or politically-motivated criminal offenses in Hong Kong is evidence the education system has been compromised. Schools as well as the education sector should promptly address the problems by all means necessary because they have to be accountable to the public and particularly parents for the well-being of students under their watch. It is the only way for the education sector to ensure the public interest against professional misconduct and political bias through indoctrination in violation of relevant law and regulations.