Photographer: Paul Yeung / Bloomberg
Photographer: Paul Yeung / Bloomberg
Hong Kong has ordered schools to adopt a more patriotic curriculum and advised teachers to report any breaches of the city’s national security law, the government’s biggest move to review the education system following the 2019 protests.
The measures, announced late Thursday, it is trying to instill the patriotism of kindergarten children through “storytelling, role-playing games, drawing, singing, dancing and other activities.” Students up to the age of six will be taught to memorize the crimes incriminated by the national security law, which was imposed on the city by China last year, including subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign powers. The curriculum will cover all subjects from geography to biology.
“The fundamentals of national security education are to develop in students a sense of belonging to the country, a affection for the Chinese people, a sense of national identity, and an awareness and sense of responsibility for protecting national security,” the Bureau of Education from Hong Kong said in a statement.
The new curriculum could also have an impact on Hong Kong about 52 international schools, which are largely responsible for the city’s expatriate population. The government statement said that international schools have a “responsibility” to help their students “gain a fair and objective understanding” of the law, without elaborating.
No international school Bloomberg attended was available for immediate comment.
Cutting out “black hands”
Beijing has blamed Hong Kong’s education system for promoting dissent and fueling months of protests against the Chinese government’s growing power over the former British colony. Hong Kong authorities have done so before he vowed to “cut off” “black hands” – including teachers – considered insufficiently patriotic.
The Hong Kong government tried to introduce a patriotic education curriculum in 2012, but abandoned the decision following massive protests. The latest attempt to do so will continue to bring the financial center further in line with the education system in mainland China, where students are, for example, necessary to study the teachings of President Xi Jinping.
University and high school students made up the majority of front-line protesters in the 2019 riots, and people under the age of 18 accounted for nearly a fifth of the approximately 10,000 arrests made in December last year, according to Bloomberg data. Students also organized protest activities, including the formation of human chains and class boycotts, actions prohibited under the new rules.
Ip Kin-yuen, a former parliamentarian and vice president of the Hong Kong Teachers’ Professional Union, said the new guidelines “are not conducive to learning or encourage the development of young minds” and that in an environment where people are trying to avoid problems “the natural answer will be self-censorship.”
Video Owl
As part of its promotional materials, the government produced a 7-minute animation with an owl explaining the concept of national security, saying it covers all aspects of Hong Kong society, including culture, cybersecurity and ecology. The video also says that it is “the right and duty of central authorities to promote the National Security Law” and that other countries have similar laws.
Garrie Chow, a father with three children in Hong Kong schools, said the new curriculum means “students are not allowed to think independently”.
In September, the English Schools Foundation, which operates 22 international schools in the city, launched and distributed a 15-page set of guidelines that instructed teachers to tell students that the classroom is not a “safe space” for discussions or debates at national level. security law, South China Morning Post reported. ESF did not immediately respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment.
Migration wave
The imposition of the new curriculum could add to the already growing number of people migrating to places such as the United Kingdom and Taiwan. Some parents and teachers cited Beijing’s growing control over Hong Kong schools as a major reason for leaving.
Jojo, 37 years old-for years The Chinese and special education teacher, who would give his first name only because of security fears, said he was trying to move to the UK at the end of this year, joining thousands of others who had already done so through a route made available to Hong Kong owners. British national passport (overseas). She is part of a WhatsApp group with 120 other local teachers, which helps educators gain the skills and certifications needed to secure a job in the UK.
“Students will have to abide (by the rules), but it will have a serious impact on their personal relationship with us,” Jojo said. “They won’t trust us.”
– With the assistance of Chloe Lo
(Updates with more background throughout)