"I am really baffled at the number of uneducated teachers in HK. I know, that where I am from, to teach kindergarten, you must at least have a degree in Early Childhood. Here it seems, to me, that anyone who speaks English can teach. I have been a teacher for over 15 years and it always surprises me that here, schools and parents allow un-educated teachers teach their little ones." (Cupcake)
To begin with, even if a teacher does not have a teaching degree, this does not warrant the label 'uneducated'. You could have a Masters in Education but never have set foot inside a classroom. Secondly, I do not know where you are from, but it wasn't until fairly recently (ie. within the last 20 years) that other Western countries required teaching degrees/diplomas for all teaching staff. In the UK and Australia, it wasn't until the early 90's that all secondary staff were held to this standards, and it slowly trickled down as we became more and more aware of the importance of early education.
Hong Kong is not quick to change (skyline notwithstanding) - but the EDB is slowly 'catching up' to the standards held elsewhere. Based on my experience, close to 100% of staff at International schools in HK are registered teachers (for which you MUST have an educational qualification). Local schools are slowly changing - all people wanting to teach in a school must complete a PGCE (or equivalent).
You get entrenched staff anywhere: and you get staff who have great qualifications and zero ability to communicate with students in a classroom.
You have to remember that the kind of staff you are demanding come with a very particular price tag - and many people simply cannot afford to pay it.
I think it's also really important to be clear when you are discussing matters of language and ethnicity and country-of-origin exactly what the context is. Native English speakers do not all speak the same way, nor do they all follow the same rules or grammar. By the same token, there are 'local' graduates teaching English who may have wonderful grammar and syntax.
Education vs Experience is always a tricky one. In my experience, my education did not necessarily prepare me for all the demands of teaching in a classroom - there is certainly something to be said for on-the-job training! I do not know a teacher who does not say that they learned more in their first year of teaching than they did in their teaching degree/diploma.
Perhaps I say this from a teacher's perspective, but most parents I know do not need to ask about qualifications, because they can tell if a teacher is doing their job well or poorly. Benchmarks are great, but not everyone fits the same pigeonhole.
I fully support police checks, and believe me, they are coming. The EBD is just trying to work out how to administer a system where a good proportion of the teaching workforce has spent time in multiple countries/outside of HK. After several high profile cases involving staff at both local and ESF/International schools, it's on their radar.
