The Fifth Greater Bay Area Forum on Teachers’ Professional Ethics was held today (October 21). The forum was jointly organised by South China Normal University and the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK), with guidance from the Department of Teacher Education of the Ministry of Education, the Office of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs of the Ministry of Education, the Department of Education of Guangdong Province and the Education Bureau (EDB). The forum, with the theme “Teachers’ Professional Ethics under the High-quality Development of Education”, attracted the participation of about 500 scholars, experts, principals and teachers from Guangdong Province, Hong Kong and Macao. More than 50 000 Mainland educators participated online in parallel.
The opening ceremony of the forum was jointly hosted by the Director of the Department of Teacher Education of the Ministry of Education, Dr Ren Youqun; Deputy Director-General of the Department of Education of Guangdong Province Mr Zhu Jianhua; the Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin; the Secretary of the Communist Party of China at South China Normal University Committee, Dr Wang Binwei; and the Chairman of the Council of EdUHK, Dr David Wong.
Speaking at the forum, Dr Choi said that strengthening teachers takes precedence over strengthening education. Strengthening the building of teaching force is the most important foundation work of building a strong education nation. The EDB has all along been fully supporting the professional growth of principals and teachers as well as strengthening the building of morality and ethics of teachers, with a view to establishing a professional and excellent teaching force for Hong Kong.
In the newly promulgated Guidelines on Teachers’ Professional Conduct, the EDB has consolidated the consensus on teachers’ professionalism, with an emphasis on the integration of the pursuit of professionalism and commitment to upholding high moral standards of teachers such that students can be nurtured with correct moral values. Through stringent gatekeeping of the quality of teaching force, the education in Hong Kong can be promoted to higher-quality development.
Dr Choi said that the EDB promotes the professional development of teachers in full force, with the hope of further promoting the professional exchange in the Greater Bay Area in the future to enable principals and teachers in the three places to learn from each other and work together to promote quality education.
The forum brought together educators from the Mainland and overseas to explore the building of morality and ethics of teachers in the new era through multifarious forms such as thematic seminars, talks, parallel sessions and thematic salon.
The keynote speakers included Distinguished Professor of Beijing Normal University and Emeritus President of the Chinese Society of Education, Professor Gu Mingyuan; the President of EdUHK, Professor John Lee; the Dean of Institute of Education of Tsinghua University, Professor Shi Zhongying; and Emeritus Professor of Faculty of Education in the University of Hong Kong Professor Cheng Kai-ming.
