New teachers must pass BL test

October 8, 2021

Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung:

We are not asking all teachers to do a test on the Basic Law every year. What we are proposing is (that) starting from next academic year, for those newly recruited into public schools, we require them to pass a test on the Basic Law, which is very similar to what we have been doing for the civil servants.

And the reason, as I explained, is because the constitutional status of Hong Kong and also the content of the Basic Law has become part of the daily teaching, and also become part of the curriculum in many subjects.

So we think it is necessary for new teachers to have some basic knowledge about the Basic Law. That will only facilitate their teaching duties when they join the teaching force.

(To watch the full press conference with sign language interpretation, click here.)

New public school teachers will be required to pass a Basic Law test starting from the next school year, Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung said today.

Elaborating on the education initiatives in the 2021 Policy Address during a press conference, Mr Yeung explained that the knowledge of Basic Law will help new teachers do a better job.

“We are not asking all teachers to do a test on the Basic Law every year. What we are proposing is (that) starting from next academic year, for those newly recruited into public schools, we require them to pass a test on the Basic Law, which is very similar to what we have been doing for the civil servants.

“And the reason, as I explained, is because the constitutional status of Hong Kong and also the content of the Basic Law has become part of the daily teaching, and also become part of the curriculum in many subjects.

“So we think it is necessary for new teachers to have some basic knowledge about the Basic Law. That will only facilitate their teaching duties when they join the teaching force.”