All serving registered teachers, permitted teachers and government school teachers, including school heads, regular teachers and temporary teachers employed on a monthly basis, are urged to participate in the Council on Professional Conduct in Education (CPC) election next Thursday (April 6) to elect candidates to represent them in the CPC, which aims to promote professional conduct in education.

     A spokesman for the Education Bureau today (March 30) said that the election will be held in individual schools in accordance with the guidance notes issued by the bureau. The voting is conducted on a one-teacher, one-vote basis.

     "Teachers serving in more than one school have to opt to exercise their voting right in only one of the schools," he said.

     "Should they vote in more than one school, the ballot papers will be considered null. We will conduct random inspections to ensure the election is fair."

     Teachers attending full-day courses run by the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) may cast their votes in the polling station set up on the Tai Po Campus of EdUHK. "These teachers are not allowed to vote in their own schools to avoid double voting," the spokesman said.

     Teachers who are eligible to vote are reminded to study the instructions on the ballot papers before casting their votes.

     "Voters should not put down their names or any other marks of identification on the ballot papers. Otherwise, the vote will be considered void," the spokesman added.

     Voters should vote for candidates of their respective school types:

* There are three seats in the category of aided secondary schools. Voters from aided secondary schools may vote for a maximum of three candidates from aided secondary schools.

* There is one seat in the category of government secondary schools. Voters from government secondary schools may vote for no more than one candidate from government secondary schools.

* There is one seat in the category of Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) and private secondary schools. Voters from DSS and private secondary schools may vote for no more than one candidate from DSS and private secondary schools.

* There are three seats in the category of aided primary schools. Voters from aided primary schools may vote for a maximum of three candidates from aided primary schools.

* There is one seat in the category of DSS and private primary schools. Voters from DSS and private primary schools may vote for no more than one candidate from DSS and private primary schools.

*   There are two seats in the category of kindergartens. Voters from kindergartens may vote for a maximum of two candidates from kindergartens.

     The category of government primary schools and the category of special schools each has one seat in the CPC. As there is only one candidate in each of these categories, the candidates will be elected uncontested as members of the CPC; government primary schools and special schools do not have to conduct voting on the voting day.

     Voters are reminded not to choose more than the number of candidates specified in their respective categories of schools (aided secondary schools/government secondary schools/DSS and private secondary schools/aided primary schools/DSS and private primary schools/kindergartens) or the votes will be considered invalid.

     The CPC is a non-statutory body to advise the Government on measures to promote professional conduct in education, to draft operational criteria defining the conduct expected of an educator, and to advise the Permanent Secretary for Education on cases of disputes or alleged professional misconduct involving educators.

     The bureau has received a total of 42 nominations. Among them, 22 are running for seats in the teacher-nominated category and 20 for seats in the organisation-nominated category.

     Results of the election will be announced on April 26 after the completion of vote counting.   

Ends/Thursday, March 30, 2017
Issued at HKT 15:30

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