Hong Kong Institute of Education

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The Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd)
香港教育學院

Established:	1994
Type:	Public
Vice-Chancellor:	Professor Anthony Cheung Bing Leung
Faculty:	Faculty of Languages, Arts and Sciences (FLAS), Faculty of Professional and Early Childhood Education (FPECE)
Location:	, Tai Po, Hong Kong China
Website:	www.ied.edu.hk/

Town Centre of Hong Kong Institute of Education

The Hong Kong Institute of Education (Abbreviated: HKIEd, traditional Chinese: 香港教育學院; simplified Chinese: 香港教育学院) is one of the eight subsidized tertiary institutes under the University Grants Committee of Hong Kong and is the only one dedicated solely to teacher education.

The history of Hong Kong Institute of Education could be traced back to 1853;St. Paul’s College was introduced the first formalized program of in-service teacher training. This was described in its Annual Report for 1994/95.^[1]

On 25 April 1994, under the recommendation made by the Education Commission Report No 5, it was formally established by the merger of the following five constituent Colleges in Hong Kong:

The Northcote College of Education (羅富國教育學院)
The Grantham College of Education (葛量洪教育學院)
The Sir Robert Black College of Education (柏立基教育學院)
The Hong Kong Technical Teachers’ College (香港工商師範學院)
The Institute of Language in Education (語文教育學院)

1 History
2 History of each college
3 Controversy
- 3.1 Dispute time-line
4 See also
5 External links
6 References

[edit] History

Established in 1994 upon the foundation of 65 years of teacher training by the former Colleges of Education, the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) is the only University Grants Committee funded institution dedicated solely to the upgrading and professional development of teacher education in Hong Kong. HKIEd provides doctor, master and undergraduate degree, post-graduate diploma, certificate and a range of in-service programs to around 7,000 pre-service students and serving teachers. (http://www.ied.edu.hk/about_hkied/index.html)

In October 1997, the Institute moved to its new campus in Tai Po, near the Tai Po Industrial Estate. It has a Sports Center at Pak Shek Kok, Tai Po, as well as a Town Center campus at Tai Kok Tsui near the Olympic MTR Station.

In 2001, the HKIEd HSBC Early Childhood Learning Center was established on the campus, the HKIEd Jockey Club Primary School was founded on the campus in the next year.^[2]

With effect from May 1, 2004, the Government granted the Institute self-accrediting status in respect of its own teacher education programs at degree-level and above.

Among the courses offered by the Institute, the BEd (Languages) has been recognized as the best course ever^{[citation needed]}. Most of its first batch of students, which graduated in 2005, already had job offers earlier than other BEd graduates at the Institute, as well as other universities.

[edit] History of each college

[edit] The Northcote College of Education

The Northcote College of Education is established in 1939.^[1]

It was named after Sir Geoffrey Northcote,the former Governor of Hong Kong.

Li Ka Shing Medical Faculty of HKU is now situated on No. 21 Sassoon Road, the former site of the Northcote College of Education.^[3]

[edit] The Grantham College of Education

The Grantham College of Education was established in 1951.^[1]

It was named after Sir Alexander Grantham, the former Governor of Hong Kong.

[edit] The Sir Robert Black College of Education

The Sir Robert Black College of Education was established in 1960.^[1]

It was named after Sir Robert Brown Black, the former Governor of Hong Kong.

[edit] The Hong Kong Technical Teachers’ College

The Hong Kong Technical Teachers’ College was established in 1974.^[1]

[edit] The Institute of Language in Education

The Institute of Language in Education was established in 1982.It was previously under the supervision of the then Education Department.^[1]

[edit] Controversy

In January, 2007, a public row broke out between the management and the Government over the future of the Institute. Battle lines have been drawn between the Vice-Chancellor Paul Morris, and former Secretary for Education and Manpower, Prof. Arthur Li.

The dispute had apparently been brewing for some time. As far back as June 2002, when the new Permanent Secretary, Arthur Li, was appointed: Li apparently already favored a merger of the Institute with another Higher Education institution, namely Chinese University of Hong Kong ("CUHK").^[4]

Morris opposed the merger, and had for some time been campaigning to establish the institute as a university in its own right.^[5] Morris maintained he had been warned by the Chairman of the Council, Dr Thomas Leung Kwok-fai, as far back as June 2006, that his tenure would end unless he agreed to the amalgamation of the institute with the CUHK.^[5]

[edit] Dispute time-line

June 24, 2002 - shortly after Li's appointment as Education Secretary, Li had apparently invited Morris to dinner and proposed a merger of the Institute with the Chinese University. Li also apparently offered for Morris to head the "super education center".^[4]
July 19, 2002 - Morris was allegedly told by Simon Ip Sik-on, a former chairman of the institute's council, during a lunch he shared with Li and two other senior institute officials, that Li threatened to render the institute unviable [if a merger could not be achieved].^[4]
October 14, 2002 - Fanny Law had met with Arthur Li, Dr. Leung and its former vice chairman Alfred Chan Wing-kin, and issued an "internal email" to staff, stating the institute's wish for an early indication of a possible merger with the education faculty of the CUHK.^[6]
25 January 2007 - the governing council of the institute decided in a vote of 10 to 3, with 3 abstentions, not to renew Vice Chancellor Morris' contract. Leung denied Morris' assertion about the threats to the security of his tenure, instead accusing Morris of misinterpreting him. Leung insisted that there was no connection between the two.^[7]^[8] This gave rise to speculation that the Education and Manpower Bureau ("EMB") was trying to force an amalgamation of the institute with the CUHK.^[9]
26 January 2007 - the deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Bernard Luk Hung-kay (陸鴻基) alleged on RTHK Radio 1's Openline Openview phone-in program, that during the summer of 2003, after results of the Language Proficiency Assessment for Teachers were released, the media reported (falsely) that most of 330 teachers who had failed in the test were from the Hong Kong Institute of Education. Professor Luk accused Law for not having set the record straight,^[6] and alleged that this publicity resulted in a sharp fall in the number of applications for the next year, though the numbers had since recovered through hard work of the staff.
Prof Luk also corroborated Vice Chancellor Morris' version of events by revealing a secret breakfast meeting that took place between Dr Leung and the Vice Chancellor in June 2006.^[10]
5 February 2007 - Luk alleged both in his open letter^[11] and on RTHK Radio 1's Openline Openview program that Li had made veiled threats both against him and Morris in the past. For their refusal to make a news release denouncing those teachers who exceeded the placement quota for their profession and who were about to lose their current jobs, Arthur Li was quoted by Luk to have said on 26/27 June 2004, "I'll remember this. You will pay." (The quote was said in English).^[12] Luk suggests in his letter that the time is up for his "pound of flesh".
Luk also alleged that during January 2004, Li had phoned Morris to once again urge Morris to take the lead in amalgamating with CUHK, he threatened to reduce future student intake quotas of HKIEd otherwise.^[13]
Luk pointed out that there had been numerous newspaper articles written by IEd staff members in the past few years criticizing the EMB education reform and policies. Luk maintains this resulted in a number of phone calls from a certain high-ranking official in the EMB, demanding the immediate dismissals of those 4 staff, which they refused to entertain.^[14]^[15]
6 February 2007 - staff members Leung Yan-wing (梁恩榮) and Yip Kin-yuen (葉建源) asked Legco to investigate further, or set up an open hearing into the allegations. Legco member Cheung Man Kwong told RTHK Radio 1's Openline Openview phone-in program that he along with 8 other Democratic camp members had already written to Legco's Education Committee chairman Tsang Yok-sing, urging him to convene an emergency meeting to investigate these allegations of government interference in the running of IEd.^[16]^[17] Students overwhelming pass vote of no-confidence in Governing Board Chairman Thomas Leung Kwok-fai: of 680 the voters, only 36 students backed Leung. There were 65 abstentions and eight voided ballot papers.^[16]
7 February 2007 - It was announced that Legco's Education Committee would convene on 12 February 2007 to discuss any further action, and that it would invite both IEd representatives and Arthur Li himself, if necessary.^[18]
March 9, 2007 - Pro-government legislators blocked an attempt to set up a Legco inquiry to investigate allegations over meddling with the academic freedom and autonomy of educational institutions. The vote failed by 30:21, with one abstention.^[19]
Chief Executive Donald Tsang set up a commission, headed by Justice Woo Kwok-hing.
March 16, 2007 - Justice Woo Kwok-hing resigns to avoid potential accusations of lack of impartiality.^[20]
March 22, 2007 - Commission hearings commence.