In Hong Kong there is a commonly-held belief that a key to strengthening our competitiveness as a world-class city lies in having a workforce that is proficient in both Chinese and English. This vision has become the language policy of biliteracy and trilingualism now promoted by the government. But to make the vision a reality, we need competent professional teachers.

In his first Policy Address in 1997, the then Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee-hwa emphasised that in future all new teachers must be university graduates and must be trained in the subjects they teach.