Required Qualifications to Teach in Hong Kong
The qualifications required of teaching jobs in Hong Kong vary on the level of students and type of schools in Hong Kong. As for the minimum requirement for ESL teachers in Hong Kong, a Bachelor’s degree and a TEFL/TESL certificate like other ESL institutions and public schools in Asia would be required.
To increase your opportunities with ESL teaching jobs in Hong Kong, Bachelor’s degree in Education is highly recommended as well as the teaching license. For the TEFL/TESL certificate, a minimum of 100 contact hours are required including the practicum. The language institutions and public schools in Hong Kong have higher demands for certified teachers who have bachelors or masters in English along with teaching licenses and minimum one full year teaching experience at public schools or approved institutions.
If you follow the requirements of Hong Kong Net (Native-speaking English Teacher) Scheme which is the program from the Hong Kong Education Bureau for public schools in Hong Kong, they have 7 different categories for secondary school positions and 5 different categories for primary school positions, this will represent the qualifications for teachers what schools generally require in Hong Kong. However the Hong Kong Net Scheme mostly focuses on hiring teachers in category 1 and 2 for each program.
For Secondary teachers (SNET)
The salary scale for secondary school positions is from HK $ 24,450 to 56,810 per month.
Category 1:
- Bachelor’s degree in English (BA or BEd)
- Post-graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) majoring in English, like MEd or BEd + teaching license (English)
- TEFL/TESL qualification at the diploma level. What does this mean? The following qualifications are accepted: a) DELTA b) Trinity College TESOL Certificate c) PGCE (Post graduate Certificate in Education) in TEFL/TESOL d) TEFL qualification with at least 250 contact hours + 20 practicum hours e) TEFL qualification with at least 250 contact hours + 2 yrs teaching experience.
- At least 1 year post-graduate English teaching experience at secondary level or above (ESL teaching preferred)
Category 2:
- Bachelor’s degree in English (BA or BEd)
- PGDE majoring in English + teaching license (English)
- At least 1 year post-graduate English teaching experience at secondary level or above (ESL teaching preferred)
For Primary teachers (PNET)
The salary scale for primary school positions is from 23,450 to 47,290 per month.
Category 1:
- Bachelor’s degree in English
- Teaching license/teacher certification in primary education
- TEFL/TESL qualification at the certificate level: minimum 100 contact hours, “pass” for practice teaching component. For topics that should be covered, see TEFL details for PNET
Category 2:
- Bachelor’s degree in any subject
- Teaching license/teacher certification in primary education
- TEFL/TESL qualification at the certificate level