BackThe Office of the Ombudsman Hong Kong released two investigation reports recently. One is about the "Procedures for Approval of Loan Applications and Recovery of Debts under the Non-means-tested Loan Scheme" while the other one is on "Education Bureau’s Non-disclosure of Teachers’ Registration Status".
An investigation conducted by The Ombudsman has found that over the past three academic years, there were 11,000 to 13,000 default cases under the Non-means-tested Loan Scheme of the Working Family and Student Financial Assistance Agency (“WFSFAA”), with the total amount in default consistently at a high level. In particular, the Extended Non-means-tested Loan Scheme, which covers an extensive range of education programmes, recorded the most serious default problem, accounting for nearly 70% of all the default cases under the Loan Scheme, with the amount in default standing at about $100 million each year. Also, the Extended Scheme cases involved longer default periods and larger overdue amounts. The Ombudsman urges WFSFAA to devise suitable measures to reduce the credit risk of the Extended Scheme. The Ombudsman also urges WFSFAA to further explore and implement as soon as possible the measure of forwarding negative credit data of the more serious loan defaulters to credit reference agencies in order to increase deterrent effect against loan default.
The Ombudsman’s direct investigation found that the Education Bureau (“EDB”)’s non-disclosure of its list of registered teachers for public inspection, though lawful, shows disregard of schools’, students’ and their parents’ vital interests and right to know. The Ombudsman considers that EDB should, under the broad principle of open and transparent public administration, strive to open up the List for public information. The investigation also found that it may not amount to a breach of the Personal Data Ordinance if EDB is to let relevant parents and schools know only whether individual teachers are registered. The Ombudsman urges EDB to: (1) conduct an extensive public consultation exercise or opinion poll to confirm the public’s aspirations for disclosure of the List; if the results indicate wide public demand for disclosure of the List, EDB should expeditiously consider amending the relevant procedures and legislation to implement the measure; and (2) consider adopting a more lenient approach in considering requests made by those whose vital interests are affected to check the registration status of individual teachers.
The executive summaries of the respective investigations are in the Annex 1 and Annex 2 of the report and can be accessed via the following link.
