The politics of school-based management legislation in Hong Kong

Abstract

(Uncorrected OCR) government? How do policy entrepreneurs lead a campaign and whip up public opinion? There is a perception that the HKSAR Government sometimes underestimates the power of interest group campaigns and even neglects their importance under the executive-led system. The legislation of SBM is an example. There are other examples such as the opposition to the enactment of the Article 23 of Basic Law, the July 1, 2003 rally, and the harbour reclamation issue. The study of interest group campaign and politics during the legislation process of the SBM Bill can help the government to understand the importance of manipulation of public opinions and be conscious of politics and interest group campaigns. Much of the discussion in this paper is sourced from face-to-face and telephone interviews conducted with heads of different interest groups and educators. In addition to interviews, information is obtained from the government and LegCo websites and newspaper clippings too. The organization of this dissertation is as follows: Chapter One: Introduction This chapter identifies the SBM legislation as a public policy issue and the objective of the study. Chapter Two: Introduction of the School-based Management This chapter provides a brief history of the implementation of the SMI in 1991 and the disputes of SBM legislation in 2004. Chapter Three: School Governance and School Administration This chapter provides a brief introduction of the development of SSBs and their importance to the education system of Hong Kong. Moreover, it gives a brief introduction of school governance and school administration in Hong Kong, and the changes after the SBM Bill came into effect. Chapter Four: Problem Identification This chapter identifies the problems caused the introduction of the SMI and SBM in Hong Kong. Chapter Five: The Politics of School-based Management Legislation This chapter identifies the policy actors and activities involved in the SBM legislation. It also examines how politics has influenced the policy decision. Chapter Six: The Importance of Policy Entrepreneurs in the Politics of School-based Management Legislation This chapter explains the importance of the role of policy entrepreneurs in the SBM legislation; how they worked with interest groups in the interest group campaign. This chapter concludes with lessons to be learned by the government from the SBM Bill issue. 6 Chapter Seven: The Implementation of School-based Management and Looking to the Future This chapter identifies the obstacles in implementing the SBM in Hong Kong. In tackling the wait-and-see attitude, the government putting in extra resources, including money incentives, to attract more schools to establish IMCs as soon as possible; a proposal that has angered the SSBs yet again. Note 1 Legislative Council, LC Paper CB (2) 2967/03-04 Report of the Bills Committee on Education (Amendment) Bill 2002, (Hong Kong: Legislative Council, June 30,2004), see http://www.legco.gov.hk/vr0203/english/bc/bc54/reports/bc54cb2-rpt-2967e.pdf. 2 Ibid. 3 Education Commission, Education Commission Report No . 7 Quality School Education, (Hong Kong: HKSAR Government, 1997), chap. 3. 4 Legislative Council, LC Paper CB (2) 2967/03-04 Report of the Bills Committee on Education (Amendment) Bill 2002, (Hong Kong: Legislative Council, June 30,2004), p. 4, see http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr0203/english/bc/bc54/reports/bc54cb2-rpt-2967e.pdf. 5 Education Commission, Education Commission Report No. 7 Quality School Education, (Hong Kong: HKSAR Government, 1997), chap. 3. 6 Legislative Council, LC Paper CB (2) 880/00-01(01) Recommendation of the Advisory Committee on School-based Management, (Hong Kong: Legislative Council, February 19, 2001), see http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr00-01/english/panels/ed/papers/880e01.pdf. 7 Ma Ngok, "Executive-Legislative Relations: Assessing Legislative Influence in an Executive-Dominant System," in Lau Siu-kai, ed., The First Tung Chee-hwa Administration: The First Five Years of the Hong Kong Special Administrative region, (Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 2002), pp. 351-352. 7