A committee studying ways to ease the work pressure on teachers has suggested recruiting up to 1,400 more permanent teachers and increasing their grants.

In a report submitted to the Education and Manpower Bureau (EMB), the Committee on Teachers' Work advises that the teachers need more support besides the nine measures adopted at the beginning of the year that would cost the government HK$1.76 billion.

The committee's recommendations come after it reviewed more than 20 local and international studies on teachers' work, visited 14 schools, exchanged views with teachers and school managements and studied the results of commissioned surveys on 7,000 teachers.

Among the committee's 18 recommendations are expanding the testing of new government policies beyond the pilot schools.

It has advised that schools should continue to employ teaching and administrative assistants to carry out administrative work and be flexible in increasing or reducing the size of their classes to suit the number of existing students.

The EMB, the committee has said, could provide a one-time allocation to update schools' IT-related facilities, such as "smart cards" to handle administrative work more efficiently.

To make the working environment healthy and harmonious for the teachers, it has asked the government to grant them paid study leave so that they can undergo advanced training.

Also, the committee says, the government should consider creating more permanent teaching posts and further improve the teacher-to-student ratio.

Committee chairman Edmond Ko said teachers generally supported the government reforms, which they agreed could enhance the quality of education and benefit students.

He, however, said the reforms had brought about new challenges for teachers, and they needed training and support to put the reforms in place.

The sources of the teachers' stress were diverse, and educational reforms alone can't be blamed, he said. Students were the greatest source of their stress because of the difference in their capabilities.

Heavy workload, increased expectation of different stakeholders and a declining birth rate in the recent years all contribute to their stress.

Secretary for Education and Manpower Bureau Arthur Li welcomed the report, and said the government would review each of its recommendations in detail.

He conceded that the bureau should increase its communication with schools and teachers because sometimes information might not be passed on to frontline teachers.

He agreed with the committee's recommendation that more steps should be taken to reduce teachers' administrative burden.

Schools should decide whether they would adopt suitable class sizes or would cut down their teaching sessions according to their ability, he said.

The report, which is a blueprint print for building a healthy campus, would be uploaded on the EMB website for public review, Li said.