4.1 Basic Principles Governing
4.1.2 Selflessness
Managers should avoid using their position for personal gain or the gain of other outside parties, including their friends and relatives.
Even when managers are elected by certain constituents, such as parents or teachers, their role in the IMC is to give professional advice to improve student learning, not to serve the interests of their constituents.
4.1.3 Integrity above Private Interest
School managers have a duty to declare to the IMC any private interests relating to their duties as managers and to take steps to resolve any conflict of interest. The interests of the school as a whole, rather than the private interest of an individual manager, should always take top priority.
4.1.4 Impartiality
In carrying out duties such as those relating to appointments, promotions, complaint investigations and the award of contracts, school managers should be impartial. Their choices and decisions should always be based on merit and fairness. Under no circumstances should favor be given and advantages be solicited or accepted that will result in preferential treatment being given to any party.
4.1.5 Collective Responsibility
Under the school-based management framework, all decisions of a school are made by the IMC collectively. The IMC acts as a group.
Each manager has a right to participate and to state his/her own views, while respecting the views of others. School managers have no authority as individuals and decisions should be made by a majority vote in IMC meetings. Once decisions are made by the group, individual managers are bound by them. Changes to such decisions have to be instigated through proper channels agreed on by the IMC.
4.1.6 Accountability and Openness in Decision-making
School managers are accountable for, and should be as open as possible about, all the decisions and actions that they take. They should give reasons for their decisions and restrict information only when the interests of students and schools clearly demand this.
Participatory decision-making in the IMC increases the openness and transparency of school governance as well as its accountability to the community.
4.1.7 Confidentiality
Each manager must respect the confidentiality of those items of business that have been designated as confidential and must not disclose what individual managers have said and how they have voted.
When a matter is under discussion by the IMC, the matter must not be disclosed before a decision is taken. The IMC should reach consensus on items to be disclosed by the spokesperson, who may be the supervisor. Managers have to follow the mode of circulation of confidential documents agreed by the IMC, for example, that these documents will be despatched by hand or in confidential envelopes and should be kept in places with security, such as in a locked cabinet.
4.2 School - based Code of Ethics
(a) With reference to the above principles and in line with the Education Ordinance, the IMC is encouraged to develop its own code of ethics with binding effects on its members. A sample Code of Ethics for School Managers is at Appendix II. The IMC can take this as a reference in initiating discussion among managers and arriving at an agreed code, modifying and making additions as appropriate. Schools may also incorporate into the code the mission and vision of the sponsoring bodies as well as
Section 4 Code of Ethics for School Managers
(b) The school-based Code of Ethics will help to foster a sense of identity among managers and serve as a useful reminder of the ethical standards and behavior they have agreed to bring to the task. The IMC may also choose to make known to the school community its own code. This will not only further enhance the transparency of the IMC but also help to publicise its work and so gain wider recognition from the community.
(c) It is the personal responsibility of managers to understand and comply with the Code of Ethics. Violation of the provisions of the code may lead to public criticism, disrepute of the school and, in some cases, cancellation of their registration as a manager.
(d) Managers who fail to follow the Code of Ethics may face internal action agreed on by the IMC. In circumstances where the existing laws and regulations are contravened, such as under the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance, prosecutions could be instigated.
Hence, it is important that school managers carry out their managerial duties in accordance with the agreed code.
(e) In October 1995, the Council on Professional Conduct in Education extracted and reprinted the Code for the Education Profession of Hong Kong (the Code) for all practising teachers in the hope that this would promote professional conduct within the profession. In formulating the school-based Code of Ethics for managers, the IMC may consider the Code as a reference with respect to the ethical standards of conduct in the education profession. Managers who wish to know more about the Code may visit the website of the Counil on Professional Conduct in Education at http://cpc.emb.org.hk/text/english/code.htm.
(a) The core values that an effective school manager should observe are
-• commitment [Section 4.1.1]
• selflessness [Section 4.1.2]
• integrity above private interest [Section 4.1.3]
• impartiality [Section 4.1.4]
• collective responsibility [Section 4.1.5]
• accountability and openness in decision-making [Section 4.1.6]
• confidentiality [Section 4.1.7]
(b) An IMC should develop its own code of ethics with binding effects for its school managers. [Section 4.2]
The Education Ordinance requires that each manager’s name, tenure of office and category shall be made available for public inspection.
To achieve greater transparency and accountability in the operation of the IMC, managers are also required to declare any pecuniary or other personal interest and disclose any conflict of interest. This action protects them from any unwarranted suspicion or criticism that they are serving private interests, which may otherwise arise. It is imperative that managers should work only for the benefit of students and that the interests of the school should always be above those of individual managers.
5.1 Declaration of Pecuniary or Other Personal Interests under the Education Ordinance
(a) A manager shall, at least once in every 12 months, make to the IMC a written declaration which states the particulars of any pecuniary or other personal interest, direct or indirect, that he/
she has in any matter that raises or may raise a conflict with his/
her duties as a manager of the school, or states that he/she has no such interest. The IMC shall decide when the manager, e.g.
within one month after registration as a manager of the IMC, should make the first written declaration. Within one month after a change occurs in any matter stated in a declaration, the manager who made the declaration shall make to the IMC another written declaration which states the change.
(b) A manager shall, if so required by the IMC, provide the committee with such further information as it thinks necessary to establish any particular contained in a declaration made by him/her.