The Secretary for Education is a principal official in the

Hong Kong Government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government, refers to the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong Special administrative regions of China, ...

, who heads the

Education Bureau The Education Bureau (EDB) is responsible for formulating and implementing education policies in Hong Kong. The bureau is headed by the Secretary for Education and oversees agencies including University Grants Committee and Student Fina ...

(EDB). The current office holder is Christine Choi.

History

The position of Secretary for Education and Manpower was set up in 1983 when the old Education Department was restructured into the Education and Manpower Branch and

Education Department An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

, and the old position of Director of Education was split into SEM and Director of Education accordingly, with the latter reporting to the former. Since the

Principal Officials Accountability System Principal Officials Accountability System, commonly referred to as the Ministerial system (), sometimes the Accountability System, was introduced in Hong Kong by chief executive Tung Chee Hwa in July 2002. It is a system whereby all principal ...

(POAS) was introduced in 2002, the SEM, as all other secretary positions, is an ''ex officio'' member of the Executive Council (ExCo). The position is a political appointment, and its term expires when the

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

leaves office. Before the introduction of the POAS in July 2002, the SEM, as well as all other secretary-level positions, was a civil service position. The office holder was not a member of the ExCo. Before 1991, the office holders may be appointed by the Governor as ''ex officio'' member of the Legislative Council. At the same time when the POAS was introduced in 2002, the responsibility of labour issues was transferred to the

Secretary for Economic Development and Labour The Secretary for Economic Services ( and later ) was a minister position in the Government of Hong Kong, which is responsible for economic development in Hong Kong. The position was renamed to the Secretary for Economic Development and Labour () a ...

, formerly

Secretary for Economic Services The Secretary for Economic Services ( and later ) was a minister position in the Government of Hong Kong, which is responsible for economic development in Hong Kong. The position was renamed to the Secretary for Economic Development and Labour () af ...

. According to the proposal tabled by Donald Tsang's administration after he was successfully re-elected as the Chief Executive, the manpower portfolio was transferred to the new

Secretary for Labour and Welfare The Secretary for Labour and Welfare () of the Hong Kong Government is responsible for labour and social welfare policy in Hong Kong. The position was created in 2007 to replace portions of the previous portfolio of Secretary for Economic Develo ...

on 1 July 2007. The position of SEM was renamed Secretary for Education.

List of office holders

Political party:

Inspectors of Schools, 1862–1909

Directors of Education, 1909–1941

Directors of Education, 1946–1983

Secretaries for Education and Manpower, 1983–1997

Secretaries for Education and Manpower, 1997–2007

Secretaries for Education, 2007–present

References

External links

Official website of the EMB
{{Education Bureau (Hong Kong) Education, Secretary for Education in Hong Kong

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...