Hot Topics: All about Hong Kong’s exodus of teachers – how students are affected, what the government is doing about it

In the last academic year, about 3,500 teachers left their jobs at Hong Kong’s subsidised schools. That was twice the number who usually left their jobs every year.

The number of leaving teachers is based on the latest annual report of the Subsidised Schools Provident Fund. This fund is where teachers from the city’s subsidised schools save part of their pay each month. They withdraw their money once they are no longer employed there.

The report showed that 3,493 teachers withdrew their provident funds from September 2021 to August 2022. This was much higher than the year before when 2,125 teachers withdrew their contributions. Before 2021, most teachers withdrew their contributions when they retired. Since then, resignation has become the top reason for leaving the profession.

According to the 2021-22 report, almost two-thirds who withdrew their retirement funds had resigned. This was much higher that the year before when about half resigned. Those with more than 15 years of experience made up 63 per cent of the total. Those with less than 10 years of experience accounted for almost a quarter.

The total amount withdrawn hit a record of HK$10.2 billion in 2022, which was HK$6.8 billion more than the year before. That meant every teacher who left received nearly HK$3 million on average.

It was the second year that the fund had more teachers leaving than new ones joining. This is happening at the same time as a teacher shortage and hiring difficulties over the emigration wave in the past two years.

Wong Kin-ho is the chairman of the Hong Kong Education Workers Union and a secondary school vice-principal. He said the impact of the high number of resignations over the past two years was still being felt.

He cited the example of a Sham Shui Po secondary school where half the teachers were newly hired. This made it difficult to organise activities as the new joiners had little experience. He said schools generally were still finding it hard to hire English-language teachers.
Staff writers

Question prompts:

• What are THREE key differences between the latest annual report of the Subsidised Schools Provident Fund and that of years past?

• Using Context, Glossary and your own knowledge, explain why so many teachers are leaving their jobs.

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Question prompts:

• Describe TWO trends shown in the chart.

• With reference to Context, identify and explain TWO concerns that have arisen from the above-mentioned trends.

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• Some SEN students find it difficult to adjust to change and need more time to build trust with new teachers

• Nearly 200 teachers in special schools quit in 2021-22

Hong Kong children with special education needs (SEN) have been affected by the departure of teachers who quit their jobs in recent years, mainly to emigrate.

The problems were highlighted in a research paper compiled by the Legislative Council Secretariat and released last December, giving an overview of special needs students and teachers’ qualifications.

There were almost 59,000 SEN students in primary and secondary schools in 2021-22, double the number from a decade earlier. Children with dyslexia made up the biggest group of SEN students in public schools, followed by those with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder, which were both rising.

Most SEN children attend mainstream schools, while almost 8,400 with more challenging conditions are enrolled at special needs schools. The paper highlighted that the exodus of teachers in recent years could have a negative impact on these students.

Hong Kong lost 3,389 teachers in public primary and secondary schools in 2021-22, up sharply from 1,991 in the previous academic year. Nearly 200 teachers in special schools quit in 2021-22, almost double the 105 in the previous year.

“Newly recruited teachers may lack practical experience regarding the learning habits and behaviour of individual SEN students,” the research paper said. “Besides, some SEN students may need time to establish trusting relationships with other teachers after personnel changes.”

Pinky Tai Ngan-yung, director general of the Special Education Needs and Parents Association, agreed that SEN students, especially those with autism, struggled to adjust to change and needed more time to establish trust with new teachers. Some teachers who quit moved to other schools as vacancies arose.

“Students are the victims when their trusted teachers leave,” Tai said with a sigh. Pointing out that the replacements were less experienced and some might not have been trained to teach SEN children, she suggested that all aspiring teachers be made to obtain a diploma in special education.
Staff writers

Question prompts:

• How is the exodus of teachers affecting Hong Kong’s special education needs students?

• To what extent do you agree with Pinky Tai that all aspiring teachers should be made to obtain a diploma in special education? Would this be effective in dealing with the exodus of special education teachers? Explain.

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• Education Bureau says it will increase intake to sought-after postgraduate diploma programme in a bid to boost the sector’s flagging figures

• Around 3,000 serving teachers in the 2021-22 academic year had not yet completed the diploma, up from 2,500 in 2020-21

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.

There were around 3,000 teachers who had not yet obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) in the 2021-22 academic year, up from 2,500 in 2020-21.

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 Education Bureau told schools in a letter last December that some local universities 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.

The subjects included English and music in both primary and secondary schools. Around 14 secondary school subjects would also see an increased quota. School principals could nominate up to two serving teachers to sign up for the postgraduate programmes, which are highly sought-after among educators.

Official statistics showed the turnover rate for teachers at primary and secondary schools reached 7.1 per cent and 7.8 per cent respectively during the 2021-22 academic year, up sharply from 4.2 per cent and 4.6 per cent in 2020-21.

The bureau earlier said teachers left their jobs due to retirement, emigration, marriage, the pursuit of further studies, and changes of employment to other types of schools or outside the profession.

Chow Kim-ho, principal of Tsuen Wan Trade Association Primary School, welcomed the new policy as it could ensure committed teachers received the necessary training.

“Some permitted teachers have been working here for two years but they still could not get admitted to the PGDE programmes as the demand is really high,” he said.
Staff writers

Question prompts:

• Based on Context, News and Issue, do you think increasing the intake of teacher training programmes will lessen the impact of the exodus of educators? Explain.

• Suggest TWO other measures for schools and governments to tackle the loss of teachers.

Surge in Hong Kong teachers quitting leads to hiring difficulties for schools

• emigration wave: in the past two years, more than 113,000 residents have left the city. Some Western countries, such as Britain, Canada and Australia, offered Hongkongers new migration pathways after Beijing imposed the national security law in June 2020.

• Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE): prepares university graduates to teach in Hong Kong in sectors ranging from kindergartens to secondary schools. It provides professional teacher training for university graduates without previous teaching experience.

• special education needs (SEN): students with learning difficulties or disabilities that make it harder for them to access education than most others their age. Major types of SEN include hearing impairment, visual impairment, physical disabilities, intellectual disability, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorders and speech and language.

• Subsidised Schools Provident Fund: allows teachers to save a portion of their pay every month, with government contributions building up their savings. Subsidised schools make up about 80 per cent of local primary and secondary schools.

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Context:

• What are THREE key differences between the latest annual report of the Subsidised Schools Provident Fund and that of years past? The total amount withdrawn hit a record of HK$10.2 billion in 2022, which was HK$6.8 billion more than the year before. / The last academic year saw over 1,000 more teachers withdrawing funds than in 2020-2021. / In the latest report, almost two-thirds who withdrew their retirement funds had resigned, up from about half the year before. / It was the second year that the fund had more teachers leaving than new ones joining. / It was the second year that resignation became the top reason for leaving the profession. (any three)

• Using Context, Glossary and your own knowledge, explain why so many teachers are leaving their jobs. There is a wider emigration wave in the past two years, with many Western countries offering migration pathways for Hongkongers. Teachers, especially those who are fluent in English, are more likely to take up these pathways since they already speak English. (accept other reasonable answers)

Chart:

• Describe TWO trends shown in the chart. The number of newly recruited teachers dropped from more than 3,500 in the 2017-18 academic year to less than 3,000 in 2020-21, and it rose to nearly 4,000 in 2021-22. The number of drop-out teachers remained steady at about 2,000 a year, from the 2017-18 academic year to 2020-21, and it rose rapidly to about 4,000 in 2021-22.

• With reference to Context, identify and explain TWO concerns that have arisen from the above-mentioned trends. The increase in newly recruited teachers means the schools might have difficulties organising activities since the new joiners have little experience. The exodus of teachers has made it difficult for schools to hire English-language teachers. (accept other reasonable answers)

News:

• How is the exodus of teachers affecting Hong Kong’s special education needs students? These students might find it hard to adjust to the changes as they need time to establish trusting relationships with new teachers. The replacements are also less experienced and might not have been trained to teach SEN children, so the quality of education may be declining.

• To what extent do you agree with Pinky Tai that all aspiring teachers should be made to obtain a diploma in special education? Would this be effective in dealing with the exodus of special education teachers? Explain. I agree to a certain extent that new teachers should be trained in special education. Not all SEN students attend special schools, so all teachers should be equipped with the knowledge to teach SEN students, even those teaching in mainstream schools. This also gives aspiring teachers more choices in applying to both mainstream and special schools.

Issue:

• Based on Context, News and Issue, do you think increasing the intake of teacher training programmes will lessen the impact of the exodus of educators? Explain. I think increasing the intake to PGDE programmes could be helpful because it will provide many teachers with the training they need to be more effective in their work. But it fails to make up for the loss of teachers with more than 15 years of experience, which made up more than half of the resignations last year. Even tough there are more new joiners, they will still need time to familiarise themselves with the teaching, school activities and students.

• Suggest TWO other measures for schools and governments to tackle the loss of teachers. Give teachers more support and resources to reduce the pressure of their job. / Provide better maternity and paternity leave and accommodations to keep more teachers from leaving when they marry. / Hire teachers from abroad who have some experience. / Offer more internship and placement opportunities to aspiring teachers. (accept other reasonable answers)