A committee will be formed to study teacher workload and a telephone hotline will be launched, Secretary for Education & Manpower Professor Arthur Li says.

He also proposed to increase the provision of the Capacity Enhancement Grant to reduce teacher workload.

The Education & Manpower Bureau will form an independent committee to study teacher workload, comprising Government officials and education experts who will interview principals and teachers and submit a report to the bureau.

The hotline (2782 8307) will operate from January 16 to handle enquires and complaints from teachers and principals. Specialists will be on hand to assist.

$1.65b set aside

An additional $1.65 billion will be set aside for the coming three years, he said, adding the proposal will be tabled at the Legislative Council next month.

If the committee passess the proposal, the grant to be released to secondary schools will rise 150% while that for primiary schools will rise 100%.

Schools can use the money to hire more teachers or executive staff to reduce teacher work load.