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Staff Establishment of Aided Secondary Schools Frequently Asked Questions and Answers
1. Q. Should schools round up the result of teaching staff entitlement calculated according to teacher-to-class (T/C) ratios to the next whole number?
A. No. Since the 2009/10 school year, the fractional part of teaching staff entitlement calculated from the revised T/C ratios has not been rounded up to the next whole number.
Schools may keep the fractional teaching staff entitlement in the form of a fractional GM post or opt for a cash grant, i.e. Fractional Post Cash Grant (FPCG), calculated on the basis of the mid-point salary of Graduate Master/Mistress (GM) teachers (please also refer to Question 5 below). For detailed arrangements of FPCG, please refer to the information posted on theEducation Bureau (EDB) Homepage (https://www.edb.gov.hk
> School Administration and Management > Administration > About School Staff > Staff Entitlement Matters of Aided Schools).
2. Q. From the 2009/10 school year, additional teachers for split-class teaching, school librarian, additional Chinese language teachers, additional teachers for remedial teaching, counseling and extra-curricular activities and additional non-graduate teachers under Education Commission Report No. 5 are not provided separately.
Does it mean that schools are not encouraged to deploy teachers for the relevant duties?
A. No. The above additional teaching posts provided to all schools have been subsumed in the revised T/C ratios to allow more flexibility for schools to implement the New Academic Structure. Schools should deploy teachers according to their operational needs.
3. Q. Is there any change in the calculation of additional teachers to support Academic Low Achievers (ALAs)?
A. There has been no change in the calculation of the number of additional graduate teachers to support ALAs, i.e. EDB will provide 0.7 additional teacher for each S1-S3 class of bottom 10% students enrolled in a school and 0.3 additional teacher for each S1-S3 class of other Band 3 students enrolled. Nevertheless, from the 2009/10 school year, if the provision contains a fraction, it will no longer be rounded to the nearest whole number (4/5 rounding). Instead, the fractional part of the provision will be retained at 1 decimal place. For details of the calculation of the additional teachers for ALAs, please refer to the information posted on the EDB Homepage (https://www.edb.gov.hk > School Administration and Management > Administration > About School Staff > Staff Entitlement Matters of Aided Schools > Providing additional teachers to schools with Band 3 and Bottom 10% students at S1 - S3).
Schools are encouraged to deploy the additional teachers flexibly to implement the Whole School Approach to cater for students with low academic achievement.
4. Q. How are the numbers of the “Additional Graduate Teacher(s) for Supporting the Senior Secondary Curriculum” and “Additional Graduate Teacher for Supporting Career and Life Planning” calculated?
A. The number of“Additional Graduate Teacher(s) for Supporting the Senior Secondary
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Curriculum” is calculated according to the number of senior secondary classes (S4 – S6) approved every school year, i.e. 0.1 GM for each of these classes. Each school operating senior secondary classes will be provided with one “Additional Graduate Teacher for Supporting Career and Life Planning”. For details, please refer to EDBC No. 5/2019.
5. Q. If regular teaching posts contain fractional parts, how will the fractional parts be treated?
A. We will add the Basic Provision provided under teacher-to-class (T/C) ratios, Additional Provision and any other additional teaching posts that can be counted towards the calculation of promotion post entitlement to arrive at the total number of promotion posts.
The resultant fraction will be added up with the additional teaching posts provided under specific improvement programmes (e.g. GMs provided for supporting academic low achievers). Whole number of the sum will not be counted towards the promotion posts.
As for the resultant fractional posts, schools can follow the prevailing practice to encash it for the FPCG. Below are some examples for illustration purpose:
Example 1 Example 2 Example 3
Class Structure 4-4-4-4-4-4 3-3-3-4-4-4 4-5-4-5-4-5
(a) Basic Provision 44.4 39.3 50.1
(b) Additional Provision (T/C ratio increased by 0.1 teacher per class starting from the 2017/18 school year; the
Additional Provision is included in calculating promotion posts starting from the 2020/21 school year)
2.4 2.1 2.7
(c) Additional graduate teacher(s) for supporting the Senior Secondary Curriculum
1.2 1.2 1.4
(d) Subtotal = (a) + (b) + (c) 48 42.6 54.2
(e) Additional graduate teacher(s) to support Academic Low Achievers
1.2 0.2 0.9
Total
= fractional parts of (d) + (e)
1.2 0.8 1.1
Whole number of the sum
(not counted towards the calculation of promotion post entitlement)
1 0 1
Resultant fractional posts 0.2 0.8 0.1
6. Q. Can schools opt for FPCG for a portion of the fractional post and retain the remaining part as fractional GM post at the same time?
A. No. Schools must choose EITHER to encash the whole fractional post OR to retain it as fractional GM post.
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7. Q. In the event that schools have surplus teachers, can they encash the fractional GM post?
A. No. If schools have surplus teachers, they must opt to retain the fractional GM post.
8. Q. After schools have indicated their option on the fractional post, can the option be changed during the school year?
A. The relevant decision could not be changed during the school year. Schools can only change their option on the fractional post for the next school year. In other words, in case a school wants to change the option after it has made the choice in Form A attached to the EDBCM No. 46/2022 “Estimates (2022/23 School Year) - Application for Grants:
Aided Secondary Schools” in March 2022, it must inform its Senior School Development Officer in writing to indicate its new option as soon as possible, or before 30 June 2022.
9. Q. Are aided schools allowed to change their options, from receiving the School Executive Officer Grant (SEOG) to creating the regular School Executive Officer (School ExO) post, or from creating the regular School ExO post to receiving the SEOG, in different school years?
A. To maintain staff stability, for schools that have already opted for creation of a regular School ExO post within the approved non-teaching staff establishment, under normal circumstances, will not be allowed to switch to receiving the SEOG in subsequent school years. However, schools may still submit written application with justifications to the respective Senior School Development Officers for this switch for the next school year if exceptional circumstances arise (e.g. the regular School ExO appointed resigns/retires).
Subject to schools’ provision of sufficient justifications, the EDB will exercise discretion to consider such applications.
Please note that, for schools switching from the SEOG to a regular School ExO post in a certain school year, if there is unspent balance of the grant, they may continue to deploy the balance up to 31 August of that school year. After that date, the EDB will claw back any unspent balance in aided schools (including special schools). For example, schools that opt to turn this cash grant into a regular School ExO post in the 2022/23 school year may use the unspent balance up to 31 August 2023.
10. Q. What is the arrangement for the provision of laboratory technicians from the 2017/18 school year onwards?
A. Regarding the details of the provision of laboratory technicians from the 2017/18 school year onwards, please refer to EDBC No. 12/2016 on “Arrangements for the Provision of Laboratory Technicians from the 2017/18 School Year Onwards” and the related frequently asked questions and answers posted on the EDB Homepage (https://www.edb.gov.hk > Curriculum Development > Key Learning Areas > Science Education > Provision of Laboratory Technicians).
11. Q. Is there any change in the calculation of the teaching staff establishment under the All-graduate Teaching Force Policy in aided schools starting from the 2019/20 school year?
A. Under the all-graduate teaching force policy, the ratio of graduate teacher posts in public sector schools has been increased in one go to 100% in the 2019/20 school year, so that
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the ratio of graduate teacher posts in public sector secondary schools has been increased from the then 85% to 100%. In other words, in the 2019/20 school year and onwards, all teacher posts on the approved establishment of public sector schools are graduate teacher posts, while the total number of posts and the number of promotion posts on the teaching staff establishment of aided secondary schools are determined by the relevant principles set out in the prevailing Codes of Aid and relevant EDB circulars/circular memoranda.
12. Q. How does the EDB determine the rank of the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO)?
A. Starting from the 2019/20 school year, the rank of SENCO in public sector ordinary schools with comparatively large number of students with special educational needs (SEN) and facing greater challenges consequentially will be upgraded to a promotion rank, to facilitate SENCOs to deliver their leadership, management and coordination duties more effectively and to assist the principal and the vice-principal(s) in implementing the Whole School Approach to integrated education. The EDB will decide if the rank of the SENCO is to be upgraded to a promotion rank based on whether the amount of Learning Support Grant has met the specific threshold. For details, please refer to EDBC No. 8/2019.
13. Q. How can the provision of Special Educational Needs Support Teachers be computed?
A. Starting from the 2019/20 school year, schools with LSG meeting different specific thresholds will be allowed to exchange/provided with one to three additional teaching post(s) at GM rank. Schools provided with the additional teaching post(s) should arrange the same number of teacher(s) at GM rank as Special Educational Needs Support Teacher(s) (SENST(s)). Schools can continue to deploy the remaining LSG, after converting part of the LSG to a permanent post (i.e. SENST), to render appropriate support services to students with SEN, including employment of additional staff or hiring professional services. For details, please refer to EDBC No. 6/2019.
Education Bureau March 2022
