教科書是教育的重要環節，聯繫教學內容、系統知識、課程與教學、學習評估。香港教科書編審和選用的機制，雖然一直引發大量爭議，但探討其機制的文章不多。本文將評析教育局在教科書編審機制的特質。教育局在編審過程中，對特定項目加以控制，如編寫內容、編寫取向、價格因素等；然而，對部分項目則容許自由編寫，如附加內容、教學活動、撰寫篇幅等。出版商為爭取通過評審，獲得更大市場份額，需要滿足教育局的要求和學校教師的口味。在選用過程中，學校需要建立選用教科書的方法，經教師商議選用，但教育局未擬定教師選用準則的嚴格標準，教師選擇具有彈性。筆者認為，香港教科書編審和選用的機制中，教育局的取態經常徘徊於控制與自由之間。Textbook, linking teaching content, system knowledge, curriculum and teaching, and assessment for learning, is an important part of education. Although the mechanism for reviewing and selecting textbooks in Hong Kong has always caused a lot of controversy, there are not many articles inquiring into the mechanism. This article analyzes the features of the textbook review mechanism of the Education Bureau. During the review processes, the Education Bureau, on the one hand, controls specific issues such as contents, teaching approaches, and pricing matters. It, however, allows freedom in other issues such as supplementary contents, teaching activities, length of writings. Textbook publishers, aiming to gain greater market share, need to meet the requirements of the Education Bureau and the desires of school teachers. In the selection process, schools need to set the procedure of textbook selection and allow teachers to select textbook. The Education Bureau, however, has not issued rigid standards for the selection and allows flexibility for teachers’ choice. The author believes that the Education Bureau often hovers between control and freedom.in the textbook review and selection mechanism. Copyright © 2019 香港中文大學.