ABSTRACT
For the last two decades, the education sector has been changing quickly in the world. Most importantly there are two significant factors affecting educational development in Hong Kong. First, globalisation has imposed significant impacts on educational change for future developments (Arnove & Torres, 2007; Carnoy & Rhoten, 2002; Daun, 2009). Neo-liberal values have directed reforms to fill achievement gaps among students with diverse backgrounds and abilities and to measure performance of schools and teachers given market demands for accountability (Skerrett & Hargreaves, 2008). Second, the return of Hong Kong’s sovereignty to China in 1997 has led to the political movement of requesting democratisation in a representative government system. These two factors have imposed great influence on education reforms in which the quest for decentralisation of power, accountability, transparency and participatory management in school education has become prevalent in the developmental process of Hong Kong’s education.
