Requirement for Newly-appointed Teachers in Public Sector Schools to Pass the Basic Law Test
Q&A
Q1 When will the Basic Law Test (BLT) organised by the Education Bureau (EDB) be held?
A1 The two rounds of the BLT organised by the EDB on a pilot basis were held on 8 January 2022 and 21 May 2022. The second round of BLT will be the last round of the BLT organised in the 2021/22 school year.
Q2 Who needs to meet the new requirement?
A2 Starting from the 2022/23 school year, the following newly- appointed teachers in all public sector schools1 are required to pass the BLT:
1. Newly-appointed regular teachers in aided and caput schools, including,
- All newly-appointed teachers of all ranks of the teacher grade (including principals)
- Teachers and principals changing schools (including those who transfer to another school under the same school sponsoring body)
- Teachers switching from a teaching post outside the approved establishment (fully remunerated with cash grant) to (i) a regular teaching post (fully remunerated with Salaries Grant or (ii) a teaching post remunerated with cash and Salaries Grant
- Newly-appointed part-time teachers remunerated with Salaries Grant
- Newly-appointed teaching post remunerated with cash grant and Salaries Grant simultaneously
- Teachers switching to a regular teaching post from
1 Except expressly stated otherwise, the above situations cover government, aided and caput schools.
monthly-paid temporary teachers in the same school
2. Monthly-paid temporary teachers (fill temporary vacancies of teaching posts within staff establishment)
- Teachers employed to fill temporary vacancies of teaching posts within staff establishment
- Supply teachers having served for more than 90 days, and are approved by schools to switch from daily-rated temporary supply teachers to monthly-paid temporary teachers;
The following newly-appointed teachers in all public sector schools are not required to pass the BLT:
1. Re-employment of part-time teachers in the same school, but have his/her part-time ratio changed;
2. Re-employment of teachers remunerated with Salaries Grant and cash grant simultaneously (e.g. each accounts for 50%), but his/her ratio of remuneration with Salaries Grant changed;
3. The deployment of teachers within the primary and secondary sections of special schools (This is also applicable to an aided school with the same situation (the two sections are headed by one school head and both sections are aided schools.));
4. In principle, a teacher who is redeployed to another school by the School Sponsoring Body because of redundancy/ surplus is considered to be a newly-appointed teacher and is required to meet the new requirement. In view of various scenarios involved, schools wish to appoint these redundant/surplus teachers may apply for a discretionary arrangement by submitting relevant supporting documents issued by the School Sponsoring body. The Bureau will consider their applications on a case-by-case basis.
The examples are by no means exhaustive. For enquiries, please contact the Teacher Professional Development Special Duty Team by phone at 2892 5709.
At the current stage, the requirement is temporarily not applicable to daily-rated supply teachers, teachers employed under the Native-
speaking English Teacher Scheme and teachers who are remunerated with cash grants. Teachers appointed on civil service terms in government schools will continue to be governed by the relevant requirements of the Civil Service Bureau (CSB). The EDB will consider progressively extending the relevant requirement to other schools (such as schools joining the Direct Subsidy Scheme, kindergartens joining the kindergarten education scheme, etc.) and other teachers.
Q3 Can schools still appoint a teacher if he/she has not passed the BLT at the time of appointment?
A3 According to the requirement, public sector schools should ensure the teachers have obtained a pass result in BLT as stipulated in relevant circulars when appointing them as regular teachers and monthly-paid temporary teachers.
Q4 What is the validity period of results obtained in the BLT conducted for teachers/ prospective teachers on a pilot basis in the 2021/22 school year? Why is the result only applicable to the 2022/23 school year?
A4 As stipulated in the circular, the relevant test results are only applicable to the newly-appointed teachers in the 2022/23 school year. The EDB will draw on the experience gained from the pilot test and explore the mode to be adopted in future.
Moreover, the CSB has launched the updated Basic Law and National Security Law Test (BLNST) for civil service recruitment, the EDB will draw reference to the experience and views of the CSB, and draw up the arrangements for teachers in and after the 2023/24 school year.
Q5 Why doesn’t the EDB wait for the CSB’s launch of the updated test before implementing this new requirement?
A5 The words and deeds of teachers have a far-reaching impact on students’ growth. Apart from possessing relevant professional knowledge, teachers should also have a correct understanding of
the Basic Law in order that they could enlighten students and help them correctly understand these topics. Currently, newly- appointed teachers in government schools are required to meet the BLT requirement. It is considered that the requirement shall be extended to other public sector schools as soon as possible. In view of the dynamic policies and measures, the EDB would draw on the relevant experience and latest development for refinement and enhancement.
Q6 Why are the serving teachers not required to pass the BLT?
A6 All teachers should correctly understand the Basic Law, “One Country, Two Systems” and other relevant concepts. The EDB will continue to provide training in relation to the Constitution, the Basic Law and the Hong Kong National Security Law to serving teachers.
Q7 How does the EDB ensure the implementation of the requirement in schools?
A7 Prior to appointing regular teachers and monthly-paid temporary teachers in the 2022/23 school year, public sector schools should verify whether the candidates have passed the BLT, and submit copies of the BLT results together with the documents to the EDB.
For example, aided schools should fill in the related information in the Appointment Forms of Teaching Staff in Aided Schools; caput schools should confirm the newly-appointed teachers have passed the BLT and submit relevant information to their respective District School Development Section; and government schools should fill in relevant information in the Appointment Forms of Monthly-paid Temporary Teachers. The above-mentioned schools are required to attach copies of the test results and submit to relevant sections in accordance with the existing procedures. Schools shall refund any overpayment of salaries to the EDB if they fail to provide copies of the relevant BLT results or the appointments concerned fail to meet the above requirement.
Q8 How do schools confirm that the potential appointees have passed the BLT and met the relevant requirement?
A8 Teachers attaining a score at or above 53 out of the full mark of 100 (i.e. getting at least 8 out of 15 questions correct) in the BLT will be deemed to have obtained a pass result.
Teachers who have sat for a BLT (Degree/Professional Grades) in a civil service recruitment exercise conducted by the CSB or individual government departments and attained a score at or above 53 out of the full mark of 100 (i.e. getting at least 8 out of 15 questions correct) will be deemed to have met the relevant requirement.
Regarding the BLNST to be conducted by the CSB from June 2022, teachers will also be deemed to have met the relevant requirement if they obtain a pass result in the test (i.e. getting at least 10 out of 20 questions correct).
Schools should request the potential appointees to present the letter of BLT result to confirm whether they have met the requirement.
Professional Development and Training Division May 2022
