Reform would set up committees under government influence, undermining schools’ educational offer. The Catholic Church has been against the draft bill for years, and after two defeats now gets the right to bring its case before the Court of Final Appeal.

Hong Kong (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The government's school management reform suffered a fresh setback yesterday when the Court of Final Appeal gave the Catholic diocese leave to mount a legal challenge. The Hong Kong government had been facing a campaign of defiance from three religious sponsoring bodies opposed to proposed changes to the existing management structure.

The Diocese of Hong Kong launched its appeal on the grounds that the draft bill would violate the Basic Law, the constitution of the Autonomous Region agreed to by China and the United Kingdom, which is not supposed to change in 50 years.

Catholic, Anglican and Methodist leaders are opposed to the draft bill because it would alter the status quo, removing power from existing sponsoring bodies and limiting their educational offer.

Under the proposed reform, originally introduced in 2002, aided schools would have to set up incorporated school management committees, with parents, alumni, teachers and government representatives. Even if the former would make up only 40 per cent of members, with 60 per cent appointed by the sponsoring body, Christian Churches are afraid that schools might become politicised and that the government might decide educational content, thus marginalising sponsoring bodies (see “Cattolici e anglicani insieme contro la legge sull'istruzione,” in AsiaNews, 14 June 2004).

The 2004 Education Ordinance gave schools until 1 July 2009 to set up the new committees. The deadline was extended to 1 July 2012 when only 20 per cent of affected schools set up the new committees within the first three years because of a campaign of resistance by the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong culminating in a legal challenge.

The Court of Appeal rejected the Church’s appeal in February this year, but yesterday, the Catholic diocese won its application for the highest court to hear its challenge on the grounds that it was a question of "great, general and public importance".

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