The 2024 Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education examination was troubled by the report of unauthorized posting of an English-language subject paper on a social media platform, which led to the arrest of a young female teaching assistant who was simultaneously an HKDSE examination invigilator. 

The issue of uploading this year’s HKDSE exam English-language test papers on a Chinese mainland social media platform has a large ethical dimension, especially when the young female arrested on suspicion of this illegitimate act is said to be a secondary school teaching assistant who is invariably associated with duties of direct contact with students in school.

Under the Ordinance, all staff appointed or employed by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (the HKEAA), the statutory body established to run the HKDSE examination and other public exams, including personnel serving at public examination centers, are prohibited from posting or reposting examination questions in any form without prior approval from the authority. An offender is liable to a fine of HK$25,000 ($3,206) and a prison term of up to six months.

The primary concern in this case is that the arrestee was a teaching assistant in a public secondary school, who was usually involved in teaching-related responsibilities. This is coupled with her appointment as an HKDSE examination invigilator, which is considered carrying a public-officer capacity charged with the responsibility to help ensure the fair and proper conduct of the citywide examination for publicly funded universities to select their cohorts of first-year undergraduate students. 

With such heavy and important duties on the invigilators’ shoulders, any defiance of the required professional ethics is bound to generate an adverse and far-reaching impact on students receiving training and advice from them in school. It should be borne in mind that students are prone to look up to their teachers in schools for advice, guidance and behavioral examples, which can substantially shape and reshape schooling outcomes in their formative years.

The examination authority should step up its effort to promote and strengthen awareness among HKDSE examination candidates and invigilators, both in Hong Kong and on the mainland, of the paramount importance of abiding by the secrecy requirement for the test papers and related documents

With the expanded natural attrition of the city’s school teaching force arising primarily from retirements and occupational shifts, it is simply unavoidable that young teachers be recruited to fill vacancies in schools and related educational bodies. These teams of young appointees will need to be alerted to the vital importance of adhering to professional and ethical conduct in assuming various roles in question-setting and script-marking, as well as supervision and administration of public examinations, taking into account the significant impact of such public academic tests as the HKDSE examination on the student community. It is imperative that appropriate briefing and training be given to appointees before they actually start their duties, mandating abidance of strict confidentiality for all restricted and sensitive materials. In the case under reference, it is a critical requirement for noninfringement of copyright of test contents in public examinations.

An opinion was noted that with the increase in the number of HKDSE test centers on the Chinese mainland, the odds of examination contents being uploaded on online platforms could rise since the practice of circulating test papers after the examinations is acceptable across the border. But the suggestion that test papers could be leaked from the mainland examination venues has been dismissed by Hong Kong Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin, who said that the test materials were handled professionally and securely throughout the examination process.

After this incident, the examination authority should step up its effort to promote and strengthen awareness among HKDSE examination candidates and invigilators, both in Hong Kong and on the mainland, of the paramount importance of abiding by the secrecy requirement for the test papers and related documents.

As to the suggestion that the should relax restrictions on disseminating test contents and releasing examination papers for free as a way to grapple with the problem of leaks, there is no valid basis for this argument, given that the HKEAA itself holds the copyright on the HKDSE examination properties, which it has the sole authority to publish and sell for income to support its public role and responsibility. Taking it all in all, the leak of public examination documents should sensibly be tackled through enhanced public education and law enforcement.

The author is chairman of Hong Kong Education Policy Concern Organisation.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.