Schools have been encouraged to adopt the most suitable teacher appointment arrangements in accordance with their needs for development and the provision of quality education.

Secretary for Education Michael Suen told legislators today some schools employ teachers on fixed-term contracts to teach new senior secondary subjects, which allows flexibility in staffing arrangements when the combination of elective subjects must be adjusted according to student need.

If sponsoring bodies or schools anticipate there will be redundant teachers arising from changes in class structure in the coming years, they must introduce flexible arrangements to alleviate the problem in handling teacher redundancy in future and to maintain stability in their teaching force.

He also said some schools have chosen to employ teachers with fixed-term contracts to fill both time-limited posts and regular posts in one go, to observe teacher performance during the initial period of employment before offering substantive appointments.