Two Hong Kong schoolteachers have been struck off the register for watching or accidentally broadcasting pornography during lesson time, while three other cases involved misconduct related to relations with students.
Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin on Friday told a Legislative Council panel meeting that 47 teachers were deregistered last year. Forty-one were convicted of breaking the law while the other six cases were related to professional misconduct.
“Those six cases were not legally convicted, but teachers should not have committed [those wrong acts],” she said.
The secretary revealed three cases involved teacher-student relations. Another two teachers watched or broadcast a porn video carelessly during lesson time, and the last case involved publishing inappropriate posts on social media.
In 2022, a male teacher at girls’ school Leung Shek Chee College in Kwun Tong resigned after being caught watching a pornographic video in class and inadvertently exposing his students to the footage on an electronic screen.
The school said it had provided counselling to the students and told their parents about the incident.
A spokeswoman for the Education Bureau said it could not confirm if the teacher was one of the two disqualified.
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The bureau earlier said the rise in cases could be attributed to the implementation of measures in the 2021-22 school year, including criminal record checks on registered and permitted teachers every three years.
Choi said the bureau checked more than 160,000 registered and permitted teachers in this year’s exercise.
Most of those involved had already left the profession and authorities would follow up on the cases to prevent them from teaching in schools again if their behaviour involved serious unlawful acts or professional misconduct, according to a bureau paper.
47 Hong Kong teachers deregistered in 2023 over professional misconduct
Lawmaker Lam Chun-shing asked whether the bureau had considered letting those disqualified register as teachers again.
“People may mend their ways, so may teachers,” Lam said.
Choi said it was discussed whether to introduce “deregistration for a defined period” in May 2021 but the bureau wanted to protect students, adding that the sex offenders and those involved in serious professional misconduct must not be allowed back.
“We are still exploring this topic, but no one being disqualified asked to register to become a teacher again until now,” she said.
In addition to deregistration, the bureau said in the paper that it had issued 69 written warnings last year, a jump from 43 a year earlier. Other actions included issuing reprimand letters, written advice and verbal reminders or making records for future reference.
Last month, two teams of primary-school children in a five-a-side football tournament were reportedly told by coaches to lose their match to avoid playing a stronger side in the next round, sparking concerns the spirit of sportsmanship had been seriously violated.
Lawmaker Michael Tien Puk-sun asked the bureau how the ethics of coaches could be regulated as they were not formal teachers employed by schools.
Choi said the bureau would remind schools to step up their “gatekeeping” work on hiring coaches and also review relevant guidelines.
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