Teachers working without new certificates face up to 2 years’ jail, HK$50,000 fine

Schoolteachers found to be working without new practising certificates will face a maximum penalty a fine of up to HK$50,000 and two years’ imprisonment from the 2028-29 academic year, as Hong Kong authorities tighten requirements for educators.

However, short-term supply teachers will be exempted from needing the newly required certificates.

Teachers in international and private schools, as well as kindergartens, applying for or renewing the certificate will have to complete 60 hours of continuing professional development in the 36 months before their application. Teachers in publicly funded schools will have to complete 150 hours per three-year cycle.

The scheme was among the initiatives in Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s 2025 policy address, meaning serving and prospective educators must not only attain a postgraduate diploma to become a registered teacher but also secure a practising certificate.

According to a gazetted document and a paper submitted by the Education Bureau to the Legislative Council, teachers will have to pay HK$1,130 to apply for the certificate. The bureau expects the fee to generate HK$90 million in revenue in the 2027-28 school year.

The fee will cover staff costs, departmental expenses and expenses related to the development of an electronic platform for processing certificate applications.

About 70,000 serving teachers can start applying for the certificate from September 1 next year. All teachers must obtain the document by the start of the 2028-29 academic year before teaching in schools, and they will have to renew it every three years.

An amendment in the bill introducing the mandatory practising certificates offers an exemption for short-term substitute teachers.

“In meeting the schools’ actual operational needs, the Education Bureau proposes that short-term supply teachers, who are employed for not more than 30 school days within a six-month period and each serving period in a school does not exceed five consecutive school days, are to be exempted from the practising certificate requirements,” it said.

Applicants must be ordinarily resident in Hong Kong. The authorities will consider a number of factors including the reasons, duration and frequency of absence from the city.

Those who fail to secure the certificate but are found teaching in schools will face a fine and imprisonment.

“A person who teaches in a school without a valid teacher registration or a valid practising certificate [will face] a fine of HK$50,000 and imprisonment for two years,” the bureau said in the document to the legislature.

A person who employs or permits any person to teach in a school without a practising certificate may also face a fine of HK$50,000 and imprisonment for two years.

The bureau said all teachers applying for or renewing certificates must complete 60 hours of continuing professional development in the past 36 months before their applications.

Teachers serving in publicly funded primary and secondary schools may need to get more hours to fulfil the requirement as they remain subject to the prevailing requirement of 150 hours of continuing professional development in each three-year cycle, with specific details to be announced later.

From the gazettal date, teachers convicted of any criminal offence in Hong Kong or elsewhere must notify the bureau in writing within 28 days of conviction, as this will be one of the application criteria for certificates.

The bureau said a mechanism should be put in place to prevent people convicted of offences endangering national security from teaching in schools to “protect students” on the date of conviction, and such people will be barred from making an application for teacher registration or a permit to teach permanently, with no appeal mechanism provided.

“Conviction of offences endangering national security would inevitably call into question the person’s conduct and values to the extent that the person may be rendered unfit and improper for registration as a teacher and undermine public confidence in the teaching profession,” it said.

Anyone convicted of a national security offence before the bill’s gazettal date will also have their teacher registration or permit automatically cancelled and face the same lifetime ban. Registration or eligibility for registration will be restored if the relevant conviction is quashed on appeal.

The bureau will maintain a register of teachers holding valid certificates that will be open for public inspection.

The government will introduce the Education (Amendment) Bill 2026 into the Legislative Council for the first and second readings on November 25.