The Legislative Council (LegCo) last night passed the contentious school management reform bill after 13 hours of heated debate.

Secretary for Education and Manpower Arthur Li called on school sponsoring bodies, including the Catholic Church, to work together with the government to enhance education quality.

Under the Education (Amendment) Bill 2002, to be effective from January 1 next year, schools receiving government funding will be required to set up management committees.

Sponsoring bodies can appoint 60 per cent of the seats in such committees while the remainder will be taken up by elected teachers, parents and alumni.

About 1,200 primary and secondary schools are required to set up management committees, as stipulated in the bill, by 2012.

Of the 51 legislators present, 29 supported the bill, and 21 voted against it. Support came from the Liberal Party and the Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB).

Speaking after the bill passed, Li said, "I am very happy to see that parents and teachers can participate in the decision-making process at schools...I look forward to working with the sponsoring bodies to make sure that their worries are unfounded and we can work well together."

Li also called for some religious sponsoring bodies to stay calm.

The Catholic Church earlier threatened to sue the government for violating the Basic Law should the bill be passed.

"If sponsoring bodies sue the government, it is meaningless and a waste of money. I would like to see those resources spent in the education sector," Li noted.

During the debate, Li said the bill was not aimed at depriving the sponsoring bodies of their power nor undermining their leading status.

He stressed that the government will closely monitor the progress of the implementation of the bill and raise amendments in case of any negative impact.

He also criticized some legislators for opposing the bill solely for the purpose of opposition.

Also, a government amendment was passed by 29 to 19 votes last night. The amendment stated that the deadline for the establishment of the management boards would be postponed from 2010 to 2012 if any review showed the law had a negative impact.

The LegCo bill committee had held 39 meetings and spent nearly 110 hours to discuss the bill.

Democrat legislator Cheung Man-kwong yesterday said the government has already destroyed the mutual trust and good relations with some school sponsoring bodies.

He said, "By passing the bill, a school management board will become an independent and legal entity. This would divide and create conflicts between the management board and sponsoring bodies."

Unionist legislator Lee Cheuk-yan said the law has enabled the government to centralize power.

However, Liberal Party legislator Tommy Cheung disagreed with Lee's viewpoint.

Cheung said, "As elected parents and teachers can join school management boards, it will enhance the transparency and accountability of school operations."

DAB legislator Yip Kwok-him criticized "the democrats" for attempting to please a group of sponsoring bodies, while sacrificing the best interests of students, teachers and parents.

Catholic Bishop Joseph Zen yesterday said he felt regretful that the bill had been passed by LegCo.

He said the bill violated article 141 of the Basic Law, which stipulates that "religious organizations may, according to their previous practice, continue to run seminaries and other schools, hospitals and welfare institutions and to provide other social services."

(HK Edition 07/09/2004 page2)