Hong Kong proposes teacher practising certificates, training rules and national security bans

About 70,000 teachers face a new requirement to teach

Hong Kong's roughly 70,000 serving teachers would need practising certificates valid for no more than three school years under the Education (Amendment) Bill 2026, with applications costing HK$1,130. Teaching without the required credentials, or employing someone to do so, could carry a maximum penalty of HK$50,000 and two years in prison.

The government scheduled the bill for publication in the Gazette on November 13, 2026, and its first and second readings in the Legislative Council on November 25. The proposal covers principals and teachers in publicly funded schools, private schools, international schools and kindergartens.

Teachers would have to hold both valid teacher registration and a practising certificate. Registration establishes a person's recognised status as a teacher; the additional certificate would provide permission to practise for a limited period, subject to renewal requirements.

The bill also proposes automatic cancellation of teaching credentials for people convicted of offences endangering national security, followed by a permanent ban on applying for registration or permission to teach. Eligibility would be restored if the conviction were overturned on appeal.

For schools and teachers, the practical changes extend beyond another document. The proposal links permission to teach to continuing professional development, declarations about criminal convictions and other conditions, while creating new responsibilities for those making appointments.

The Education Bureau's November 12 announcement says the changes aim to maintain professional standards, strengthen teacher management and protect students. School leaders support the broad direction but have raised detailed concerns about training access, application workloads and teachers returning to the profession.

Who would need a certificate?

Education Bureau figures put the number of registered teachers at more than 160,000, compared with about 70,000 working in schools. The remainder mainly comprise people who have reached retirement age, left teaching or have no recorded school appointment.

The proposal therefore separates the much larger pool of registered teachers from those currently teaching. A person keeping their registration after leaving the profession would need to meet the practising certificate requirements before returning to a classroom, unless an exemption applied.

Application conditions include valid teacher registration or a permit to teach, current or forthcoming employment at a school, a declaration about criminal convictions, a commitment to uphold professional standards and obey the law, completion of specified training, and ordinary residence in Hong Kong. The proposed arrangements also accommodate applicants who have submitted a teacher registration application.

Ordinary residence concerns whether Hong Kong is a person's settled place of residence, with factors including the reasons, duration and frequency of absences. The Hong Kong Association of the Heads of Secondary Schools has asked how this condition would apply to teachers commuting from elsewhere in the Greater Bay Area.

Training requirements would vary by school

The certificate application requirement would be 60 hours of continuing professional development during the preceding 36 months. Teachers in publicly funded primary and secondary schools would remain subject to the existing expectation of 150 hours in each cycle of three years.

Private school, international school and kindergarten teachers would face the 60 hour certificate requirement. For publicly funded primary and secondary school teachers, the 150 hour figure is 90 hours higher, or two and a half times that amount.

Continuing professional development means organised learning that helps teachers keep their knowledge and teaching methods current. The bureau says the requirement should help them respond to changes in local and global education policy and to the needs of students and society.

The distinction between 60 and 150 hours also reflects how the proposal developed. The February discussion paper considered 150 hours over three years as a certificate application condition for serving teachers. The later arrangements set a 60 hour application requirement while retaining the higher existing expectation for publicly funded primary and secondary schools.

Teachers entering the profession immediately after graduation would be treated as meeting the professional development requirement. The bureau has also said it would explore training programmes for people returning to teaching and supply teachers employed for longer periods.

School heads want clear rules on what counts

The Hong Kong Association of the Heads of Secondary Schools set out its concerns in a February position paper, following a letter its executive committee sent to all Legislative Council members on February 5. It supported the purpose of the changes while calling for workable implementation.

The association described the existing 150 hour target as a soft target. Making training a condition for permission to teach would give the counting and verification of hours a more direct consequence for employment.

School heads asked the bureau to identify eligible courses and activities, including whether lesson observation, discussions after lessons, education research and lesson studies could count. They recommended a digital system through which teachers could record attendance, upload evidence and calculate their hours.

The existing training framework, introduced from the 2020/21 school year, includes at least 30 hours of core training in each cycle of three years. Its two categories cover teachers' professional roles, values and conduct, and local, national and international education issues, with at least six hours in each category.

Course availability is another concern. The association said teachers seeking training to support students with special educational needs had sometimes been unable to secure places, including on online courses. It called for sufficient places, more flexible schedules and discretion for teachers taking long periods of sick leave or maternity leave.

Applications could begin in September 2027

Under the proposed timetable, serving teachers could begin applying on September 1, 2027, and would need certificates before the start of the 2028/29 school year. Certificates would require renewal, with validity capped at three school years.

The proposed application fee is HK$1,130, subject to periodic review. The bureau expects fee income of HK$90 million in the 2027/28 school year to cover staffing, departmental expenses and development of an electronic application platform.

Officials also propose a grace period of six months after an application is submitted. The timetable therefore combines the opening of applications in 2027, a transition before the 2028/29 school year and an allowance for processing individual applications.

School heads had recommended certificates lasting five years, matching the validity period for the Certification for Principalship. They argued that a longer period would reduce administrative work and give teachers sufficient time to complete training before applying for renewal.

The November proposal retains a maximum of three school years. The government has yet to announce the detailed application procedures and full training rules, while passage of the bill remains subject to Legislative Council scrutiny.

Supply teachers would have a limited exemption

Short periods of substitute teaching would receive special treatment to help schools cover sudden absences. A supply teacher could be exempt from the certificate requirement if employed for no more than 30 school days within six months, with each period at the same school lasting no more than five consecutive school days.

Both limits matter. A teacher covering a single absence for longer than five consecutive school days would fall outside the proposed exemption even if their total work remained below 30 days during the six months.

The February discussion had used a period of 12 months for the 30 day threshold. The November proposal uses six months and adds the limit of five consecutive school days at one school. School heads had already warned that tracking a substitute teacher's accumulated work across appointments could be difficult.

Longer appointments would bring supply teachers into the certificate system. The association called for training access for retired teachers, people no longer actively teaching and those wishing to return, including accounts that allow them to enrol in courses and keep training records.

Lawrence Tang Fei, a legislator representing the education sector, also called for a route into core training for experienced teachers outside schools. He explained the access problem:

"As those veteran teachers who left the profession may not be employed by a school, they will find it difficult to sign up for those required courses via the electronic system for serving teachers," Tang said.

National security convictions would trigger automatic bans

The national security provisions would cancel a person's teacher registration or permit to teach from the date of conviction. Any unexpired practising certificate would also be cancelled, including a certificate that had not yet taken effect.

People convicted before the bill's gazettal date would also be covered by cancellation and the permanent restriction on future applications. The proposal would make them ineligible to apply for teacher registration or a permit to teach.

The bill proposes no separate appeal mechanism against this automatic consequence for teaching credentials. A person could still challenge the underlying criminal conviction, and registration or eligibility for registration would be restored if that conviction were quashed.

The bureau proposes bringing these safeguards into effect immediately after the bill passes, ahead of other provisions scheduled for September 1, 2027. The proposal ties the loss of teaching status directly to the conviction rather than requiring a separate registration cancellation process.

Legislators Leung Tsz-wing and Ng Wun-kit expressed support for closing the interval between a conviction and the removal of teaching credentials. Wong Kam-leung, chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers and a legislator, also supported automatic cancellation and the reporting of criminal convictions.

Criminal reporting and penalties would reach employers

Teachers convicted of any criminal offence in Hong Kong or elsewhere would be required to notify the Education Bureau in writing within 28 days. The proposed reporting arrangements refer to convictions from the bill's gazettal date.

The broader criminal declaration requirement had already prompted questions from school heads in February. The association supported declaring local and overseas convictions but sought guidance on how offences unrelated to teaching, such as road traffic offences, would affect applications.

Teachers working without valid registration or a required practising certificate could face a maximum fine of HK$50,000 and imprisonment for two years. Employers or others permitting such teaching could face the same maximum penalties.

The proposal also reaches school managers who consent to or allow an incorporated management committee to make an unlawful teaching arrangement. Schools would therefore need to check both registration and certificate status when appointing teachers and allowing them to continue teaching.

The Permanent Secretary for Education would maintain a register of teachers holding valid practising certificates. Schools could use it to verify credentials, and it would be available for public inspection in a manner considered appropriate by the permanent secretary.

Schools seek time to prepare before the rules apply

School heads warned in February that applications and renewals could concentrate between May and August, alongside recruitment and registration of new teachers. They asked whether schools and the bureau would have enough administrative capacity to complete checks before September 1.

The association recommended allowing teachers to apply directly through an electronic platform, such as iAM Smart+, rather than placing a large processing burden on schools. It also called for a transition period to test systems and adjust school procedures.

Employment status remains a practical concern for returning teachers. The February discussion described applicants as already employed by a school; the later proposal refers to people currently teaching or about to take up teaching. The association favoured allowing qualified registered teachers to obtain certificates without first securing an appointment, drawing a comparison with nursing and principalship certification.

The Education Bureau says it consulted the sector from September 2025 and the Legislative Council's education panel on February 6, 2026. It describes stakeholders and legislators as generally supportive and says the proposal takes schools' operational needs into account.

An Education Bureau spokesman described the responsibility behind the changes:

"As role models and key persons for nurturing students, the words and deeds, conduct and values of teachers have a profound impact on students," he said.

The dates that matter

The proposal has developed through consultation, a legislative discussion and preparation for the introduction of the bill. Its next scheduled parliamentary step is November 25.

• September 2025: The Education Bureau began consulting the education sector.
• February 5 and 6, 2026: The school heads association sent its concerns to legislators, and the Legislative Council's education panel was consulted.
• November 13, 2026: The government scheduled the bill for gazettal.
• November 25, 2026: The bill is scheduled for its first and second readings.
• September 1, 2027: Most provisions are proposed to begin, with certificate applications opening for serving teachers.
• Before the 2028/29 school year: Teachers would need to obtain the required certificates.

The national security safeguards have a separate proposed start, immediately after passage. Teachers and schools would therefore need to prepare for different parts of the legislation taking effect at different times.

Key Points

• Teachers and principals across Hong Kong's school sectors would need registration and a practising certificate.
• Certificates would cost HK$1,130 per application and last no more than three school years.
• The application training requirement would be 60 hours in 36 months; publicly funded primary and secondary school teachers would retain a 150 hour expectation over three years.
• Short periods of supply teaching could qualify for an exemption subject to two limits on working days.
• National security convictions would trigger automatic cancellation and a permanent application ban, with eligibility restored if the conviction were overturned.
• Unauthorised teaching and employment arrangements could carry maximum penalties of HK$50,000 and two years in prison.
• The bill is scheduled to reach the Legislative Council on November 25, 2026.