SED on Yuen Long schools and teachers' performance
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Reporter: Secretary, given the unsettling images out of Yuen Long, and that so many people are troubled by it, does the Education Bureau have any support and guidelines issued especially for schools in those areas, where we saw schools and shops in Tuen Mun, Tsuen Wan and Yuen Long close early yesterday? And can you also give - aside from the safety, on their emotional support, and also we saw teachers being arrested or they are criticised for posting messages or for some of their behaviours. Will the Education Bureau carry out any disciplinary action on those teachers?
Secretary for Education: I think the situation in Hong Kong - well, we all know what is happening now in Hong Kong. I take this opportunity to appeal to all of us citizens of Hong Kong that we should abide by the law. We are confident that the Police are able to maintain law and order in Hong Kong. At present, basically all schools are on their summer holidays. There are a number of summer activities organised by the schools for the students. I think these are quite flexible in nature. So I think the schools could decide how and where to organise these activities for their students, and we, the EDB (Education Bureau) would be happy to offer advice and assistance to the schools if needed. Regarding your question on teachers' performance, I think, we, as a society, have very high expectations of our teachers and are hoping that our teachers will also abide by their professional conduct and professional requirements when they are teaching at schools. On individual cases, we have to look at the facts and we have to look at the final investigations by, for example, the law enforcement agents, and see whether any actions need to be taken by the schools or the EDB according to the established procedures.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Tuesday, July 23, 2019
Issued at HKT 14:40
Issued at HKT 14:40
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