III. ADMINISTRATION
OF AIDED SPECIAL SCHOOLS
Admission,
Suspension and Expulsion of Pupils
Permanent
Secretary to regulate admission of pupils
48. Admission
and allocation of places to aided special schools shall be regulated as the Permanent
Secretary may determine, and as shown at Appendix 1.
Permanent
Secretary to regulate suspension and expulsion of pupils
49. Suspension
and expulsion of pupils from an aided special school shall be regulated as the
Permanent Secretary may determine, and as shown at Appendix 1.
Teaching
Practice Arrangements
Schools
to accept teaching practice arrangements
50. Schools
should co-operate, whenever possible, in the training of teachers by accepting
for teaching practice student teachers undergoing training in the Hong Kong
Institute of Education and the local universities. Consultation with the institutions
concerned should be arranged prior to the placement of student teachers.
Use of school
premises
51. (a) The premises of an
aided special school shall be used only for the approved activities of such
school, except as may be permitted in writing by the Permanent Secretary.
(b) Classrooms and ancillary
facilities should be made available at the request of the Permanent Secretary
for the operation of evening courses run by non-profit-making school operators
commissioned by the Education Bureau.
In making his requests, the Permanent Secretary will take into
consideration any special difficulties and existing commitments, and will fully
consult the school authorities concerned.
In this connection, schools concerned may charge appropriate
remuneration in respect of hire charges and electricity charges.
Appointment and Dismissal of Staff
Permanent
Secretary to be notified of appointment and dismissal of staff
52. (a) Appointment and
dismissal of staff shall be in accordance with regulations 76, 77 and 78 of the
Education Regulations, in conformity with this Code of Aid and in accordance
with such instructions as the Permanent Secretary may from time to time issue.
(b) All appointments,
resignations and dismissals shall be promptly notified to the Permanent
Secretary. Such notification shall
be in writing, stating the effective dates and indicating, where applicable,
the period of notice given. Schools
should issue to staff leaving the employment a document certifying the
particulars of his/her employment including, wherever applicable, the monthly
salary, salary point, incremental date and leave balance.
(c)
For the purpose of processing
applications from teachers for withdrawal of provident fund, the School
Management Committee shall also inform the Permanent Secretary when a teacher
-
(i)
is compulsorily retired, or dismissed or
the contract is terminated (on completion or otherwise); or
(ii) retires
voluntarily, resigns, or terminates the contract (on completion or otherwise),
in order to avoid compulsory retirement, dismissal, or contract termination, on
account of professional misconduct or being convicted of an offence.
53. (a) The School Management Committee may
approve the appointment of staff paid out of the Salaries Grant in accordance with
the provisions of this Code of Aid and any requirements the Permanent Secretary
may determine, except for the following staff whose appointment shall be
subject to the approval of the Permanent Secretary –
(i) School
Heads;
(ii) direct
appointment of staff to promotion ranks;
(iii) registered teachers by merit
of ten years recognised teaching experience;
(iv) unqualified
teachers;
(v) staff
above the age of sixty; and
(vi) temporary
Native-speaking English Teachers.
(b) The
School Head shall check the eligibility of a person for appointment in
accordance with the requirements of this Code of Aid and any instructions the
Permanent Secretary may from time to time issue. Schools shall be responsible for assessing
the salaries of staff. The School
Head shall verify the salary assessment and inform the Permanent Secretary of
the salary particulars of staff paid out of the Salaries Grant in a prescribed
form for grant purposes.
Teachers
and other staff to be medically examined
54. (a) All teaching staff,
specialist staff, artisans, cooks and workshop attendants (other than supply
staff) shall, before appointment, undergo a medical examination including a
chest X-ray examination by a registered medical practitioner.
(b) All other staff (other
than supply staff) shall, before appointment, undergo a medical examination by
a registered medical practitioner.
(c) Serving registered
teachers on transfer from one aided school to another without break of service
will not be required to attend an X-ray examination or present a medical
certificate on appointment.
(d) The School Management
Committee may exempt the following employees from pre-employment X-ray
examination-
(i) Staff
members who can show that they have undergone a chest X-ray examination not
more than twelve months before their dates of appointment. The X-ray should not show signs of
active tuberculosis.
(ii) Staff
members in possession of a certificate from a registered medical practitioner,
confirming that they are pregnant.
Exemption granted to staff in this category will continue until the end
of their subsequent maternity leave, at which time they should be instructed to
make their own arrangements for X-ray examination.
(e) The
purpose of the above examinations is not to discriminate against any employee
or job applicant with a disability.
Employers are advised to note the relevant provisions of the Code of
Practice on Employment issued by the Equal Opportunities Commission.
Head to verify
qualifications, experience and date of birth
55. (a) The Head of an aided
special school shall inquire into, examine and verify the certificates and
testimonials of an applicant for appointment of any grade of staff in the
school, and shall verify any previous experience claimed by such applicant,
making reference for this purpose to the applicant’s former employer(s) as
appropriate.
(b) The Head of an aided
special school shall verify the date of birth of any person employed to any
grade of staff in the school, and shall require such person to produce for
inspection a birth certificate, statutory declaration, the Hong Kong Identity
Card, or such other documents as may appear necessary for this purpose.
(c) Schools shall keep all
copies of certificates and testimonials, appointment forms and any other
relevant documents in respect of all staff employed for inspection as and when
required.
Qualifications
for various grades of staff
56. Qualifications
required for eligibility for employment as staff in an aided special school are
shown at Appendix 4.
Preference to be
given to persons possessing professional qualifications
57. The
School Management Committee shall, in considering the appointment of teaching staff,
seek to give preference to persons who, in addition to the minimum
qualification for employment, possess a professional qualification in special
education.
Temporary
employment of unqualified persons as teachers
58. (a) Subject to the approval
of the Permanent Secretary, the School Management Committee may, if a qualified
person is not available to fill a vacant teaching post, temporarily employ an
unqualified person as a teacher.
The salary for such an unqualified teacher shall be as shown at Appendix
3.
(b) Notwithstanding (a), no
person shall be employed to teach in a workshop unless qualified to teach
technical subjects.
Contract
of service; letter of appointment
59. (a) A teacher shall, on
appointment to an aided special school, be furnished with a contract of service
and, in addition, or alternatively, a letter of appointment. Such contract of service or letter of
appointment shall be signed by the Supervisor of the school and shall be countersigned
by the teacher on appointment.
(b) Such contract of
service or letter of appointment shall not be subject to annual renewal. Schools may make it clear in the
contract that, subject to the agreement between the teacher concerned and the
School Management Committee, the contract may be renewed at regular intervals.
(c) Such contract of
service or letter of appointment shall specify :
i) the
name of the special school and of the employer, this being the School
Management Committee or, if any school has only one manager, that manager;
ii)
the date from which the appointment is
to have effect;
iii)
requirements, if any, relating to
probation;
iv)
the conditions of service and, if applicable, any specific language
proficiency requirements;
v)
the salary to be paid on commencement of
the appointment, and any salary scale relating to the post, including the
annual incremental date;
vi)
whether such teacher is to contribute to
a provident fund; and if so, what such contribution shall be;
vii)
the entitlement of such teacher to paid sick leave, maternity leave or paternity
leave; (updated on 1 September 2016)
viii)
conditions of termination of appointment
and the minimum period of notice of termination of the contract to be given by
either party wishing to terminate such contract as specified under Section 61;
ix)
the conditions relating to payment of
salary on the resignation or dismissal of such teacher as specified under
Section 61;
x)
that such teacher shall act in
accordance with the terms of the Education Ordinance and of subsidiary
legislation made under that Ordinance, of this Code of Aid and of such
instructions as the Permanent Secretary may from time to time issue regarding
the conduct of aided special schools.
Appointment
to be initially on probation
60. A
teacher on first appointment to an aided special school shall serve a
probationary period of two years, after which the employment of such teacher
shall be permanent, subject to such provisions regarding termination of
employment as may be contained in such teacher’s contract of service or letter
of appointment.
61. (a) The employment of a
teacher who is serving a period of probation shall be terminable by the giving
of one month’s notice either by the School Management Committee at which such
teacher is employed, or by the teacher.
(b) The employment of an
unqualified teacher under the terms of Section 58 of this Code of Aid shall be
terminable by the giving of one month’s notice either by the School Management Committee
or by the teacher, subject to such provisions regarding termination of
employment as may be contained in such teacher’s contract of service or letter
of appointment.
(c) The employment of a
teacher who has satisfactorily completed a probationary period, shall be
terminable by the giving of three months’ notice in writing by the School
Management Committee or by the teacher.
(d) A
teacher employed for a period of not less than two years as specified in a
contract of service or letter of appointment shall, at least three months
before the expiry of such specified period, inform the School Management
Committee whether or not he wishes to seek a renewal of the contract of
service. The School Management
Committee shall similarly, at least three months before the expiry of such
specified period, inform the teacher whether or not it intends to propose
renewal of the contract of service relating to his employment.
(e) A teacher who
terminates his employment without having given such notice of intention so to
terminate as may be required by the terms of this Code of Aid or of the
contract of service or letter of appointment relating to his employment, shall
be liable to pay one month’s salary in lieu of notice to be credited to the
school’s Salaries Grant Account.
Nevertheless, the School Management Committee may waive the said payment
if the teacher’s explanation is justified and inform the Permanent Secretary of
such a waiver and the reasons thereof.
(f) The
School Management Committee may, subject to the provisions of the Employment
Ordinance, suspend a teacher from his normal duties for a period of not
exceeding 14 days under the following circumstances:
i)
in cases where criminal proceedings of a
serious nature have been, or are likely to be instituted;
ii)
in cases where the teacher’s serious
misconduct is under investigation and it would be against the interest of the
school for him to continue to teach in the classroom.
In case of (i), where the criminal proceedings are not
concluded within 14 days, the period of suspension on half pay may be extended
till the end of such proceedings.
The School Management Committee may decide whether or not to suspend the
teacher on half pay and such payment of salaries shall be subject to the
approval of the Permanent Secretary.
(g) The
School Management Committee shall only dismiss a teacher for good and
sufficient reasons (see Appendices 7and 8). A teacher shall be liable to summary
dismissal if it appears to the School Management Committee that he has been
convicted of a criminal offence or has committed a grave breach of duty.
Appointment
of specialist staff and school executive officers
62. The
appointment of specialist staff and school executive officers to aided special
schools should follow the principles outlined in Sections 59-61, where
applicable.
(updated on 1 September 2019)
Retirement
63. (a) All non-specialist
staff employed from the Salaries Grant in accordance with the approved establishment
and pay scales for these staff shall retire at the age of sixty, except in
special cases and with the approval of the Permanent Secretary.
(b) All
other staff, including the Head, teachers, laboratory technicians, specialist
staff and school executive officers of an aided special school, shall retire at
the end of the school year in which he reaches the age of sixty. Under exceptional circumstances, the
Permanent Secretary may on the recommendation of the School Management
Committee and subject to the submission of a satisfactory medical certificate
as to fitness, permit such staff to continue in service for a period of one
school year after the end of that in which he reaches the age of sixty, and for
further periods each of one school year, up to the end of the school year in
which he reaches the age of sixty-five.
Promotion and regrading
64. (a) Except for
promotion to the post of the School Head and direct entry to a promotion post
which shall be subject to the approval of the Permanent Secretary, the School
Management Committee may approve promotion of all staff members and regrading
of non-graduate teachers to take up a post of the graduate grade in accordance
with the provisions in this Code of Aid.
(b) The School Management
Committee is required to put in place fair and open procedures in processing
all cases of promotion and regrading in compliance with any such instructions
as the Permanent Secretary may from time to time issue. The Supervisor shall inform the
Education Bureau in a prescribed form of all cases of promotion and regrading.
65. The
conditions under which teaching and other staff may become eligible for
promotion to higher ranks of appointment are set out at Appendix 5. A teacher in service who becomes
eligible for appointment to a higher grade by reason of the acquisition of
further qualifications will be considered for appointment to the higher
grade. However, a special school
may not exceed the overall entitlement in respect of grades and ranks of
appointment as shown at Appendix 2.
Acting appointments
66. (a) The School Management
Committee may, in accordance with the rules set out at Appendix 5, approve the
appointment of full-time graduate teachers to fill vacant promotion-grade posts
in the rank of Senior Graduate Master/Mistress on an acting basis. Allowance for such acting appointment
will be treated as salary for provident fund purposes.
(b) The School Management
Committee may also approve full-time regular teachers for acting appointments
to approved functional posts when such posts are left vacant arising from
approved leave or wastage. Acting
allowance will only be granted if a teacher has taken up an acting appointment
for 30 consecutive calendar days or more.
The approved functional posts in aided secondary special schools or the
secondary section of combined level special schools cover posts in the rank of
Principal I, Principal II, Principal Graduate Master/Mistress, and Senior
Graduate Master/Mistress; while those in aided primary special schools or the
primary section of combined level special schools cover Headmaster/Headmistress
I, Headmaster/Headmistress II, Senior Primary School Master/Mistress and Primary
School Master/Mistress.
Arrangements for acting appointments and allowances are set out at
Appendix 3. Such acting allowances
will be treated as salary for provident fund purposes. (updated
on 1 September 2019)
Outside duties
67. Staff
employed full-time in a special school administered under the terms of this
Code of Aid shall not engage in outside duties except with the prior approval
of the Supervisor, who must be satisfied that such duties contribute to the
public good and are not such as to interfere with the efficient performance of
the staff’s normal duties. Records
of such approval should be kept by the school.
Provident Fund
68. (a) A teacher in an aided
special school who contributes to the Subsidized Schools Provident Fund is
subject to the provisions of the Subsidized Schools Provident Fund Rules made
under the Education Ordinance. The
benefits which a teacher-contributor may receive from the Fund are briefly
reproduced from the Rules at Appendix 13.
(b) A teacher who does not
contribute to the Subsidized Schools Provident Fund and who contributes to
another provident or superannuation fund approved by the Permanent Secretary
may on submission of original receipts in respect of his contribution to such
fund, receive from the Government a donation in respect of 50% of his
contribution to such fund or 5% of his basic salary in Hong Kong, whichever is
the less.
(c) Temporary teachers
appointed for 60 days or more and new teachers over the age of 55 on first
appointment are required to join the Mandatory Provident Fund scheme.
69. Unless
specifically exempted under the Mandatory Provident Fund Scheme Ordinance or
employed for less than 60 days, all laboratory technicians and non-teaching staff
are required to contribute to a registered Mandatory Provident Fund scheme or a
scheme registered under the Occupational Retirement Scheme Ordinance.
Supervisors to keep accounts
70. (a) The Supervisor of an
aided special school shall be responsible for keeping proper books of accounts,
which shall comprise :
i)
cash book for government grants and cash
book for school funds;
ii)
petty cash book for government funds and
school funds;
iii)
attendance register and register of
fees/subscriptions/other charges showing inter alia receipt number and amount
of tuition fees, boarding fees, subscriptions and other charges, if any,
against the name of each pupil;
iv)
revenue receipt counterfoil and Daily
Collection Summary in respect of tuition fees, boarding fees, subscriptions,
other charges and any other income;
v)
payment vouchers in respect of all
expenditure;
vi)
a register of capital assets;
vii) a
register of non-recurrent grants –
building; and a register of non-recurrent grants - furniture and
equipment;
viii) a
general ledger and subsidiary ledgers showing accounts in respect of all items
of recurrent income and expenditure;
ix)
provident fund records for individual
staff;
x)
register of hire of school
accommodation;
xi)
register of donations; and
xii) stock
and sales records for exercise books, stationery, etc., if necessary.
(b) All books of accounts,
receipts, counterfoils and vouchers shall at all reasonable times be available
for inspection by the Permanent Secretary or officers authorized by him in that
behalf. Records of a permanent
nature, e.g. annual accounts, inventories, records of capital expenditure and
Government non-recurrent subsidies, records in connection with special school
building funds/donations, etc., shall not be destroyed without prior approval
of the Permanent Secretary.
However, the following records may be destroyed after a certain period
of retention, as specified below :
i) Minimum period of retention -
7 years :
Books of accounts, i.e. cash books, Ledgers, etc.
All types of vouchers, bank statements
ii) Minimum period of retention - 2
years :
Quarterly returns (duplicates),
Paysheets (duplicates),
Fees receipts/school attendance registers,
Register of hire of school accommodation.
(c) Separate books of
accounts should be kept for the phasing-outing and the phasing-in schools under
the reprovisioning programme.
Accounts not to include provision for depreciation
71. An aided
special school shall not make any
provision in its accounts for depreciation. Expenditure in respect of a capital
asset shall be debited to the relevant capital asset account and shall not be
debited to an income and expenditure account.
Supervisor to be responsible for bank account
72. (a) The Supervisor of
an aided special school shall keep bank accounts in the name of the school, one
of which accounts shall be kept solely in respect of moneys received from the
Government.
(b) All disbursements
shall, as far as possible, be made by cheque, which shall be signed by the
Supervisor and, where there are two or more registered managers, by one other
registered manager in addition to the Supervisor.
(c) The Supervisor
may keep a reasonable cash balance as specified by the Permanent Secretary from
time to time to meet small payments.
Alternatively, a further account could be opened for this purpose with
cheques signed by the Head and the Deputy Head of the school, duly authorised
by the School Management Committee.
School funds to be kept separate
73. Tuition
fees or subscriptions or other sums received by an aided special school from
the Government or other sources shall not, in any circumstances, be paid into a
bank account kept in the name of the Supervisor or other person or persons,
whether or not such person or persons are members of the School Management
Committee or teaching staff, but shall be paid into the bank account maintained
in the name of the school.
74. (a) The Permanent Secretary
may require the Supervisor of an aided special school to submit accounts at
such times and in such manner as he may determine.
(b) The accounts of an
aided special school shall, unless the Permanent Secretary in writing otherwise
permits, be audited by certified public accountants/public accountants
registered under the Professional Accountants Ordinance; and the audit fee
shall be charged against the school’s School and Class Grant Account/Boarding
Grant Account as appropriate.
(c) The accounting year
covered by the audited accounts shall be from the first day of September of one
year to the thirty-first day of August of the next. Schools which are unable to prepare
their annual accounts on this basis may apply in writing to the Permanent
Secretary for following the traditional financial year basis.
(d) For the purposes of
this Code of Aid, the financial year shall be from the first day of April of
one year to the thirty-first day of March of the next.
Permanent Secretary may withhold grant
if accounts not submitted
75. The
Permanent Secretary may, if a special school fails to submit annual accounts or
delays the submission of such accounts without reasonable cause, temporarily
withhold payment of such proportion of grant made monthly to the school as he
shall determine.
Subscriptions used for development to be separately accounted for
76. (a) If the Permanent
Secretary has permitted an aided special school, under the terms of paragraph
(c) of Section 15 of this Code of Aid, to transfer Subscriptions to a fund separately kept by the sponsoring
body for educational development or other purpose, an audited annual statement
of accounts in respect of such fund shall be prepared. The accounting year, to which such
accounts shall refer, shall be from the first day of September of one year to
the thirty-first day of August of the next, except for financial year basis as
approved by the Permanent Secretary.
(b) The Supervisor of such
special school, when submitting annual accounts of the school as required by
the terms of Section 74 of this Code of Aid, shall attach thereto the audited
accounts in respect of such fund; and these accounts shall refer to the same
period of time as those of the school, to which they are attached.
Accounts
relating to sections of special schools not subvented under this Code of Aid
77. (a) Where the School
Management Committee operates a private section or a boarding section which
does not receive financial assistance under this Code of Aid, the accounts of
such private section or boarding section shall be kept separately from those of
the aided section and audited; and shall specify any subvention received from
departments of the Government other than the Education Bureau. The accounting year, to which such
accounts shall refer, shall be from the first day of September of one year to
the thirty-first day of August of the next, except for financial year basis as
approved by the Permanent Secretary.
(b) The Supervisor of an aided
special school shall, when submitting accounts, also submit accounts relating
to any private section or boarding section of such school; and these accounts
shall refer to the same period of time as those of the aided special school.
Recurrent Grants to be refunded and
accounts submitted, if special school ceases to be aided
78. The School
Management Committee shall, in the event of that school’s ceasing to be an
aided school under the terms of this Code of Aid, forthwith repay to the
Government any unexpended portion of recurrent grants made to the school, and
submit a full set of duly audited accounts for the period up to and including
the last day of operation of that school as an aided special school.
Outgoing Supervisor to hand over accounts
79. (a) If at any time for any
cause the Supervisor of an aided special school ceases to act as such, he shall
hand over all accounts and records relating to the school, together with any
cash belonging to the school which may be in his charge, to such other person
as the Permanent Secretary may approve as Supervisor, or pending the Permanent
Secretary’s approval of such other person as Supervisor, to the School
Management Committee.
(b) The Supervisor of an
aided special school, on ceasing to act as such, shall prepare a certificate
listing all accounts and records relating to the school, and any cash belonging
to the school which may have been in his charge. This certificate shall be signed by the
outgoing Supervisor and by either such other person as the Permanent Secretary
may approve as Supervisor, or pending the Permanent Secretary’s approval of
such other person as Supervisor, by a majority of the members of the School
Management Committee. A copy of this
certificate together with a certificate prepared by the bank at which the
school’s accounts are kept, and showing the state of such accounts on the date
at which the outgoing Supervisor ceased to act as Supervisor, shall be
submitted by the School Management Committee to the Permanent Secretary.
(c) The Permanent
Secretary may require the School Management Committee to submit, in such form
and within such period of time as he shall prescribe, full accounts in respect
of the period up to and including the day on which the outgoing Supervisor ceased
to act as Supervisor.
(d) In the event of the
Permanent Secretary having required such accounts to be submitted, and the
School Management Committee having failed to submit them, the Permanent
Secretary may require the outgoing Supervisor and the members of the School
Management Committee, or such of them as he shall determine, severally or
jointly to refund to the Government such proportion of grants made to the
special school during the period in which the outgoing Supervisor acted as
Supervisor as he shall assess.