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In response to a Chinese-language newspaper's front-page report today (October 2) concerning the setting up of a "special incentive" by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA) on a needs basis, the Office of the Secretary for Education issued the following statement:
The HKEAA is a self-financing statutory body. The Secretary for Education, Mr Eddie Ng Hak-kim, is an ex-Chairman of the HKEAA, whose terms of office expired on June 30, 2012. The agenda on the "special incentive" was endorsed by the HKEAA Council in August 2012.
During Mr Ng's tenure as the Chairman of the HKEAA, the HKEAA Council noted that the Authority's staff had to attend to a large amount of work relating to the development of a new examination as well as the routine operation of the original examination as they were required to administer concurrently the first Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) Examination and the last Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination in 2012 in the face of tremendous workload and brain drain problems. The HKEAA Council thus agreed in principle that there was a need for the Authority to consider feasible measures (including introducing a special incentive) to ensure that there was adequate experienced staff to administer the two public examinations, in particular to ensure that the mission of the first HKDSE Examination could be accomplished smoothly.
After deliberation and a comprehensive review, the HKEAA Council decided in August 2012 that staff with good performance would receive a one-off special incentive as encouragement for the experienced staff to continue their service and as a reward for their contribution to the smooth administration of the HKDSE Examination. Mr Ng, who had left the post of the Chairman of the HKEAA at the time, was not involved in making the decision.
Ends/Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Issued at HKT 19:57
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