Administration, research and teachers: the pressurized 3-in-1 teachers
I believe most departments are by now pretty intimate with the TSPP, the
Triennial Strategic Planning Process. Many of us had to summarize, report,
review and make up the future plan of our departments’ research and education
activities, our organization and financial prospect, in a span of 3 months.
For those of us involved in the exercise, the TSPP had taken place of the
summer sun which we so longed for.
For more research grants and better ranking, we also have the Mock RAE.
We had to submit our individual research reports, proposals, attend conferences,
etc., all in a cut-throat race.
Besides, we had to make acquaintance with the “Timesheet”. This new measure
aims at differentiating activities done under the UGC one-line budget and
those self-financed, by making teachers log details of their time engagements
in various activities. Admin staff too are affected as they are normally
the ones having to learn and use the computer system for reporting. In
today’s UGC institutions, is there any teacher who is not busy like a honeybee?
Yet, we all have to drill our brains in figuring out how to make the teachers’
time commitment in various activities “appear reasonable” to the UGC.
All these only add to the pressure on teachers, who have to handle teaching,
research, and administration at once. How, under such circumstances, can
our teachers find peace in properly acquiring knowledge and caring for
our students according to their true conscience? In these blindly busy
times, what is the true meaning of education? How do we pursue our academic
ideals?
Academic freedom and freedom of thoughts: our quest for a tolerant campus
Article 19,
Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “Everyone has the right to
freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold
opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information
and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” (
1)
Article 137, The Basic Law of HKSAR: “
Educational institutions of all kinds may retain their autonomy and enjoy
academic freedom
. [Emphasis added] They may continue to recruit staff and use teaching
materials from outside the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Schools
run by religious organizations may continue to provide religious education,
including courses in religion.”(
2)
Article 27, The Basic Law of HKSAR: “Hong Kong residents shall have freedom
of speech, of the press and of publication; freedom of association, of
assembly, of procession and of demonstration; and the right and freedom
to form and join trade unions, and to strike." (
3)
The first article points to the internationally recognized human right
of freedom of expression without interference. The two other articles concern
the legal rights of Hong Kong’s institutions of academic autonomy and freedom
and the freedom of Hong Kong residents to participate in social movements.
Recently, accusing some university teacher for “inciting the masses”,
a legislator launched an online petition campaign, calling for the colleague’s
university to fire him. Later, 39 legislators of the pro-establishment
camp co-signed a petition appealing to the Education Bureau demanding actions
on the slogans of “Hong Kong Independence” on university campuses.
We are gravely concerned by such interferences of legislators against
freedom of speech and academic freedom on HK campuses. Freedom of speech
is the cornerstone of academic freedom. True knowledge can only be sought
when freedom of expression can be safeguarded. "I disapprove of what you
say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." University is
the bastion of free-thinking. Opinions can differ, debates can be fierce,
but respect must be given for the freedom to speak.
From the Qin Dynasty’s burning of books and burying of scholars to the
literary inquisitions in the Ming and Qing Dynasties and the Cultural Revolution,
we have seen endless persecutions in Chinese history against those who
seek or hold on to the truths. We hope that we have all learnt from history
by now and that we have the capacity to build and protect a tolerant campus.
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