Sabbatical Leave Scheme for Professional Development of Teachers and Principals
Background
As announced in the Chief Executive's 2017 Policy Address, the Government would provide a non-recurrent funding of $500 million, with an annual disbursement of around $50 million, to support suitable projects under the T-excel@hk strategic work plan of Committee on Professional Development of Teachers and Principals (COTAP) to enhance the professional development of teachers and principals. "Sabbatical Leave Scheme for Professional Development of Teachers and Principals" commenced in the 2018/19 school year, aiming at creating space for serving teachers and principals to participate in continuing professional development (CPD) programmes/activities that support their professional learning and meet development needs of their students and schools.
Objectives and Details
The Scheme aims to –
- create space for serving teachers and principals to plan and undertake individualised CPD programmes/activities of different modes and types to meet their professional development needs, apply their learning in the education and school contexts and to enrich their professional exposure;
- support schools to nurture professional growth of teachers and principals, and promote a culture of educational research and self-improvement contributing to positive changes and impact on learning and teaching; and
- establish a vibrant professional learning community and professional teams of teachers and principals to lead the teaching profession in striving for excellence.
The Scheme features a "sabbatical leave" period between one and five month(s) as appropriate for serving teachers and principals to take part in professional development programmes/activities. The Scheme aims to promote self-directed planning of local/non-local structured and/or individualised professional learning activities by participating teachers and principals, leading to enhanced teachers' professional growth, students' whole-person development and school development. Participating teachers and principals are required to apply their professional learning in completing planned educational research or school development projects during, and/or within three months upon completion of, the sabbatical leave period.
Important Dates
| Application Period | Release of Application Results | Sabbatical Leave Period | |
| 1st round application | From 22 March 2021 to 21 May 2021 |
By the mid-July 2021 | From 1 September 2021 to 31 August 2022 |
| 2nd round application | From 1 September 2021 to 29 October 2021 |
By the end of December 2021 |
From 1 February 2022 to 31 August 2022 |
| 1st round application | |
| Application Period | From 22 March 2021 to 21 May 2021 |
| Release of Application Results | By the mid-July 2021 |
| Sabbatical Leave Period | From 1 September 2021 to 31 August 2022 |
| 2nd round application | |
| Application Period | From 1 September 2021 to 29 October 2021 |
| Release of Application Results | By the end of December 2021 |
| Sabbatical Leave Period | From 1 February 2022 to 31 August 2022 |
e-sharing Session
To provide you with more details of the Scheme, resources including documents and video clips on how to write a scheme proposal and participants' experience sharing, etc. are appended below for your reference.
Reference Materials (Chinese versions only)
How to write the Scheme proposal ( Download PDF )
Participant's Experience Sharing (I) By Principal MOK Oi-ling of Caritas Jockey Club Lok Yan School
Participant's Experience Sharing (IV) By Ms CHOI Hing-ling of Tin Shui Wai Methodist Primary School
Participant's Experience Sharing (V) By Mr YUEN Kai-lun of Shun Tak Fraternal
Association Yung Yau College – (Article / Video)
Completed Projects
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童夢 • 同行；敢夢 • 敢想；芬蘭學習體驗之旅
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建構全校參與模式的理財與品德教育校本課程/ 學校發展計劃
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校本教師專業發展系統：「分析、分段、分享」
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通過「以知識管理策略推動關愛照顧者計劃」，發展管理團隊以知識管理提升服務質素的領才
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行動研究：如何透過小組協作學習來提升學生數學科的學習動機、課堂參與及學生成績
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初中課程 • 駐校研究
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以辦學團體專責小組作為平台，與大學協作，協助學校推動正向教育，促進教師專業發展
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「啟迪思維 • 成就未來」
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深化「以閱讀統整各學科」校本課程，提升語文素養及品德情意教育
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Revamping the Phonics Curriculum
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Lead Teachers to Professional Learning, Stimulate Innovative Teaching and Become a Co-constructor of Learning
- Teacher Empowerment for the 21st Century Classrooms
Application
For more details, please refer to the Education Bureau Circular Memorandum (EDBCM) No. 33/2021, which can be downloaded below and on the Education Bureau website.
Information Notes to Applicants
Application Form Part I (PDF fillable format) (For Applicants)
Application Form Part II Recommendation Form (PDF fillable format) (For Principals/Supervisors)
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. Who are eligible for the Scheme?
Ans:Applicants must be:
- permanent residents of Hong Kong;
- registered teachers;
- full-time regular teachers1 or principals in government, aided (including special schools), caput or DSS primary and secondary schools, or teachers or principals in KGs joining the KG education scheme2, at the time of application; and
- have no less than five years of full-time teaching experience in local kindergartens, primary and secondary schools3, at the time of application.
Note 1:
"Regular teachers" refers to 1) teachers on the staff establishment of government, aided and caput schools at the primary and the secondary levels, or 2) regular members of the teaching staff of DSS primary and secondary schools. Teachers employed under the Native-speaking English Teachers Scheme are not included.
Note 2:
While there is no approved staff establishment in KGs, all full-time teachers with remuneration fully paid by subsidy or school fees will be eligible.
Note 3:
Only experience in KGs will be counted for KG teachers, and only relevant experience in primary and secondary schools will be counted for primary or secondary school teachers.
Q2. Are there any preferences given to applicants?
Ans:Preferences will be given to applicants who:
-
possess relevant experience in
- whole-school/KLA-level/subject-level curriculum planning; or
- coordinating and/or organising professional development activities at schools; or
- conducting educational research on learning and teaching/ professional development of teachers; or
- offering community services in the education field
-
submit Scheme proposals with study plan and educational research/ school development project(s)
that are relevant to the following areas:
- enhancing teachers' professional development at the school level; or
- mentorship/ leadership development for teachers/ middle leaders; or
- cross-curricular learning/collaboration/initiatives or integrated approach in learning and teaching at the KG level; or
- student support programmes.
Q3. How long can the applicants propose for the sabbatical leave period?
Participating teachers and principals will be granted "sabbatical leave" from one month to five months as appropriate between 1 September 2021 and 31 August 2022 (for 1st batch of participants) OR between 1 February 2022 and 31 August 2022 (for 2nd batch of participants) to pursue their planned CPD programmes/activities relevant to achieving their learning objectives.
Q4. What professional development programmes/activities can applicants propose for the sabbatical leave period?
Ans:The professional development programmes/activities can be:
- local/non-local structured study programmes;
-
other modes of professional learning activities such as
- serving as visiting scholars/researchers/tutors at the universities;
- participating in attachment programmes/visits in schools/institutions/organisations, organising inter-school/community activities, sharing sessions, conducting literature reviews, etc.
Q5. What are participants' responsibilities during the sabbatical leave period?
Ans:During the sabbatical leave periods, participating teachers and principals shall:
- report regularly to their school principals/supervisors on the progress of their planned CPD programmes/activities and submit learning progress reports in prescribed format to their school principals/supervisors and the Education Bureau;
- attend meetings with educational experts for professional dialogues on planning and conducting educational research/ school development project(s);
- plan and/or implement educational research/ school development project(s) in their schools;
- establish and a lead professional learning community among participants and within schools through regular meet-up and sharing sessions; and
- share their experiences regarding the sabbatical leaves, learning outcomes and outcomes of educational research/ school development project(s) in briefings and sharing sessions to benefit the teaching profession and schools.
Q6. Do participants need to submit reports upon completion of the Scheme?
Participating teachers and principals shall submit final reports and planned deliverables of the Scheme to their school principals (for teacher applicants) or supervisors (for principal applicants) and the Education Bureau within three months upon completion of their sabbatical leave period.
Q7. Are there any teaching obligation upon completion of the Scheme?
Participating teachers and principals shall undertake to teach full-time (for teachers) or serve full-time (for principals) for two years immediately upon completion of the sabbatical leave periods to sustain the positive impact on school development. KG teachers and principals shall serve in KGs joining the KG Education Scheme, and primary and secondary school teachers shall serve in public sector schools or DSS schools in Hong Kong.
Participating teachers and principals are required to sign an undertaking, which delineates the terms and conditions that they should comply with, upon their acceptance of a place in the Scheme. These include satisfactory completion of, but are not limited to, the following:
- planned CPD programmes/activities and professional support sessions from education experts;
- educational research/ school development project(s);
- learning progress reports and final reports of the Scheme;
- briefings and sharing sessions of the Scheme experience; and
- fulfilment of two-year teaching and service obligation upon completion of the sabbatical leave periods.
At any point of time, if a breach of the undertaking occurs, the participating teachers and principals of the Scheme shall repay to the Government the expenditure, on an interest-free basis, incurred by the Government because of his/her participation in the Scheme. For special circumstances that the undertaking cannot be completely fulfilled is due to reasons not within the participants' control such as accidents, ill health, etc., they will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Q8. What criteria will be adopted for selection of participants?
A vetting committee will be formed to assess the application based on various criteria including eligibility of applicants, their relevant academic qualifications and work experience, action plans on CPD programmes/activities and educational research/ school development project(s) during sabbatical leave period, relevance and benefits of their action plans to the education sector and their schools, and recommendations by the school principals/supervisors, etc. Interviews may be arranged where appropriate.
Enquiries
For enquiries, please contact Ms Ruby Li (Tel: 2892 5774) or Ms Clara Wong (Tel: 3509 7581) of the School Leadership and Professional Development Section of the Education Bureau.
