Secretary for Education Christine Choi on Friday said a new government proposal to require teachers to obtain practising certificates would ensure their professionalism, stressing that the move does not imply any distrust.

Choi said while details of how teachers can obtain this certificate is still being ironed out in consultation with the sector, it will involve tailored training for their specific roles – covering a range of topics from subject-specific training to artificial intelligence, social issues and legal matters.

Speaking at a media briefing, Choi noted that less than half of Hong Kong’s 160,000 registered teachers are currently active in the classroom.

She pointed out that many registered teachers, like herself, may have stepped away from teaching for extended periods for various reasons, such as pursuing further studies, taking up administrative roles or leaving the profession entirely.

As such, she said teachers need to meet the latest professional standards so that the quality of education in the city can be maintained.

“I want to emphasise again, the practising certificate is a positive and responsible step. It's not about distrusting teachers,” she said.

“It's about supporting them to be their best and ensuring every student gets the excellent education they deserve.

“So, we emphasise on the teacher's professional requirement, their relevant teaching experiences and keep their professional conduct.”

The proposal was announced in a supplementary booklet to the policy address, which was published on Wednesday.

The education chief also gave assurances that the government’s decision to allow the city’s eight publicly-funded universities to allocate half their student numbers to self-funded, non-local students – up from 40 percent – would not affect local students.

“The 15,000 first-year, first-degree quota [for local students] keep unchanged. So I think we don't need to worry,” she said.

Additional revenue from these non-local students, she added, will enable universities to make any necessary upgrades to ensure the quality of teaching remains high.

“Our universities will make use of the resources… charged from the non-local students to upgrade universities’ facilities to strengthen their teaching faculties,” she said.