EDB announces arrangement for second round of Basic Law Test
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A spokesman for the EDB said that persons interested in taking the test may apply through the online application system on the EDB webpage (www.edb.gov.hk/en/basiclawtest) from 9am on January 24 to 5pm on February 7 (Hong Kong time). As places for the test are limited, applicants will be arranged to sit for the test on a first-come, first-served basis.
The EDB is conducting two rounds of the BLT for teachers on a pilot basis. The first round of the BLT was held in early January while the second round will be the last round of the BLT organised this school year. The relevant test results are only applicable to the newly appointed teachers in the 2022/23 school year. For the content and format of the BLT, the EDB will draw reference to the arrangements of the BLT conducted by the Civil Service Bureau (CSB). Candidates have to answer 15 multiple-choice questions within 20 minutes. Those who get at least eight out of 15 questions correct (i.e. attaining a score at or above 53 out of the full mark of 100) will be deemed to have a "pass" result. Those who have already obtained a pass result in the first round of the BLT will not be allowed to sit for the second round of test again. Teachers who have sat for a BLT conducted by the CSB and attained the abovementioned passing score will be deemed to have met the relevant requirement.
The spokesman said, "The Basic Law is closely related to our lives and is also a key element of the school curriculum which should be strengthened. Teachers should have a correct understanding of the Basic Law in order to enlighten students and help them correctly understand the constitutional status of Hong Kong and develop positive attitudes towards the Basic Law and 'one country, two systems'.
"In this regard, while the EDB and teacher training institutions have been strengthening training on the Basic Law, starting from the 2022/23 school year, newly appointed regular teachers including newly joined teachers, teachers changing schools, and teachers changing from teaching posts remunerated with a cash grant to those remunerated with a Salaries Grant, and monthly paid temporary teachers in all public sector schools are required to pass the BLT in order to be considered for appointment. The requirement applies to all ranks of the teacher grade including principals."
The spokesman added that at the current stage, the BLT requirement is temporarily not applicable to daily rated supply teachers, teachers employed under the Native-speaking English Teacher Scheme and teachers who are remunerated with cash grants. The EDB will consider progressively extending the relevant requirement to other schools (such as schools joining the Direct Subsidy Scheme and kindergartens joining the kindergarten education scheme) and other teachers.
The EDB will closely monitor the epidemic situation and move in step with the development of the overall anti-epidemic measures in Hong Kong for the arrangement of the test. For more details about the BLT organised by the EDB and the latest updates, please refer to the EDB webpage (www.edb.gov.hk/en/basiclawtest).
Ends/Thursday, January 20, 2022
Issued at HKT 17:42
Issued at HKT 17:42
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