Facts about Independent Managers

Section 40AL(2)(f) of the Education Ordinance stipulates that an IMC should have not less than one independent manager.

For details regarding the Composition of Incorporated Management Committees and Nominations of Six Categories of School Managers, please visit the following webpage.

Under the Education Ordinance, managers of all categories possess the same rights and liability. Attending IMC meetings, among others, is a fundamental responsibility of school managers (including the independent manager).

As a member of the IMC, an independent manager should give advice on school development and achieve effective governance. When giving advice, independent managers should consider the functions of the IMC, the visions and missions of the sponsoring body, the learning needs of the students of the school, the professional capacity of teachers and expectations of parents, etc.

In financial management, there are two major functions and roles for the managers in an IMC, namely steering and monitoring. Building on the strength of the existing organisational structure of the school, the IMC should put in force relevant mechanism(s) with the participation of the IMC managers that play the steering and monitoring functions/roles in an efficient and effective manner. To avoid conflict of interests, it is not advisable for a manager to perform audits for a school even if the manager is a certified public accountant (practising). Instead, the school should hire an external auditor to audit the school account. However, the manager can perform the steering and monitoring roles under the relevant mechanism endorsed by the IMC, such as ensuring the school’s preparation of annual accounts for external auditing, recommending ways for improvement in the internal control procedures/mechanism, looking into and ensuring proper follow-up action be taken on the non-compliance/irregularity cases, etc.

For details, please refer to paragraphs 2.2.3 and 2.2.4 of “Guide to Financial Management for Aided Schools Operated by Incorporated Management Committee”.

Section 40AQ(1) of the Education Ordinance stipulates that the IMC of a school may nominate such number of persons for registration as independent manager of the school as may be provided for in the constitution of the committee. Since no provisions in the Ordinance require that a person nominated for registration as independent manager must be elected in that behalf in an election, the nomination of independent manager should be made according to the standing requirements and procedures of the IMC.

Under the Education Ordinance, there are no provisions which require a person nominated for registration as independent manager to be a professional. As a member of the IMC, an independent manager should give advice to the IMC with his experience and expertise so as to provide diverse quality input and manifest the spirit of school-based management. The IMC could nominate a suitable person to be the independent manager according to their own needs.