Ex-Ombudsman Alice Tai to head body to handle school disputes
Former watchdog chief and government critic Alice Tai appointed in a bid to alleviate public concern over the education system
Outspoken former ombudsman Alice Tai Yuen-ying is set to return to the spotlight with the government appointing her to head a panel to resolve education disputes.
As Ombudsman, Tai was a critic of a range of government policies before she left in 2009.
The government wants Tai to lead an independent appeal board to deal with unresolved conflicts within schools, with the hope that she can ease public concern over the city's education system.
The Education Bureau now handles most of the complaints involving schools and Tai's appointment is part of its proposal to reform the complaint-handling system, a government source said yesterday.
The proposal is to be tabled in the Legislative Council in February, the source said.
The bureau began a two-year pilot scheme in 80 schools this month to change the way complaints are handled.
"While the bureau would handle complaints relating to the Education Ordinance, education policies and services it directly provides, schools should take up complaints relating to schools' daily operations and internal matters directly," says a brief on the new policy.
