Alumni Manager Election

According to the interpretation in section 40AB of the Education Ordinance, “alumnus”, in relation to a school, means a person who has been a pupil of the school but is no longer such a pupil (in other words, not limited to graduates).

Section 40AP(3) of the Education Ordinance stipulates that the IMC or sponsoring body of the school may recognize one body of persons as RAA. The body of persons shall be recognized only when its constitution specifies the following items －
(i) its membership is open to all alumni of the school;
(ii) only the alumni of the school may elect or become office-bearers of the body; and
(iii) the system of alumni manager election is fair and transparent.

As there is no stipulation in the Education Ordinance over the academic qualifications of school manager, thus the requirements on academic qualifications should not be put in place when alumni manager election is conducted by the RAA.

In short, whether an eligible candidate is suitable to be a manager should be left to the discretion of the voters.

Section 40AP(6) of the Education Ordinance stipulates that a person nominated as an alumni manager must be an alumnus of the school; and must not be a teacher of the school. In addition, section 40AO(5) of the Education Ordinance states that a person nominated as parent manager must be a parent of current pupil of the school; and must not be a teacher of the school.

No manager shall serve in an IMC in more than one capacity. A parent manager, alumni manager or independent manager must not be a teacher of the school. If a teacher has more than one capacities (as a parent of current pupil of the school/ an alumnus of the school), he can only be nominated as a teacher manager.

To ensure a fair election, it is advisable for the voting to be conducted by secret ballot, i.e., electors are not allowed to put down their names or any other marks of identification on the ballot paper and should not let the other electors see whom they have voted for.

Section 40AP(3) of the Education Ordinance stipulates that the system of the alumni manager election shall be fair and transparent.

If required by the constitution or election notice of the RAA, each nominated candidate should supply a brief statement of his personal information to the returning officer within the number of words as required by the association.

Alumni/ members, being candidates and voters in the alumni manager election, shall note the election-related words, deeds and ethical conduct to ensure fairness in the election process.

Regarding the ethical conduct required in the Alumni Manager Election, please refer to Annex III of the “Guide for Alumni Manager Election” prepared by the EDB.

After the election, the returning officer should put all the cast ballot papers in an envelope, which will then be signed and sealed by him and the chairperson of the RAA. The envelope and the cast ballot papers should be kept by the RAA for at least six months, as they might be needed for investigation purposes in case of allegations against voting irregularity. However, prolonged retention period should be avoided.

Section 30(1A)(b) of the Education Ordinance states that the Permanent Secretary for Education may refuse to register an applicant as a manager of a school if the applicant is under the age of 18 years.