For years, parents and students in the semi-autonomous city feared a shift towards Chinese-style “patriotic education”, with an earlier attempt to present such a curriculum defeated by mass protests in 2012. The new rules, coming in the wake of so much the new security law on the crackdown on the city’s opposition movement goes far beyond what was discussed earlier.
“Schools have a significant role to play” in that, he added.
Speaking at a news conference on Thursday, Ip Kin-yuen, a former legislator and vice president of the Professional Teachers’ Union, criticized the government for announcing the new policies without consulting teachers and parents.
“There is a lot of sensitivity and unpredictability when it comes to education in national security law,” he said. “This will bring great pressure and anxiety between principals and teachers.”
New rules
They go into granular detail about how national security issues should be taught on a variety of subjects, from general studies and history to biology and music, as well as how administrators and teachers must deal with disciplinary issues and non-compliance with the new guidelines.
Both teachers and students who violate the rules face potential censorship, with administrators advised to involve the police in the event of “serious” offenses, while books and other materials deemed contrary to national security should be removed from school facilities, though little Accurate guidance is offered on what materials are covered.
“If an employee is found to have committed an act of disrespect for the country, the school should give appropriate advice or warnings and pay attention to that employee’s future performance accordingly,” the rules state.
Students from both university and high school were at the forefront of the anti-government and pro-democracy protests that rocked Hong Kong for much of 2019. During the unrest and in preparation for the introduction of the national security law, many pro figures government officials blamed the city’s liberal education curriculum, as well as teachers, for allegedly radicalizing the city’s youth.
“We lost two generations, we lost them through schools,” one of Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, told CNN at the height of the disturbances.
“The fundamental problem is that you have a whole generation of young people who are not only against, but actually hate China,” said the aide, on condition of anonymity. “How are you going to have ‘one country, two systems’ working if you have an entire generation hating that country?”
Although members of the city’s democratic opposition rejected these claims, pointing out that many of them did not receive the supposedly radical lessons, which were introduced only in 2009, this did not prevent pressure to “reform” Hong Kong’s educational system.
“We cannot bear to see that, with the infiltration of politics on school campuses, students are attracted to political turmoil or even induced to engage in illegal and violent acts, for which they have to assume legal responsibilities that will impact their lives, “Lam said, adding that it is” the shared responsibility of government, society, the education sector and parents to find a way to protect our students “.
Political controls
Under the new guidelines, the introduction of national security principles will start early.
Kindergartens – both private and public – should instill in their students a greater knowledge of “Chinese history, Chinese culture and moral education”, which the guidelines say “will gradually build students’ identity as Chinese and, therefore, launch the foundations for national security education. “
From the age of 6, all students in Hong Kong will receive new lessons designed to help them “understand the history and development of the country, the importance of national security, the national flag, the national emblem and the national anthem. “.
Elementary school students will be instructed to sing the national anthem and raise the flag, while older children will discuss the foundations of the law itself and the importance of institutions such as the People’s Liberation Army.
Not even international schools – which are popular with foreign residents and wealthier places – are exempt from the new guidelines.
Although private educational institutions are not directly under the control of EDB, the rules issued on Thursday state that international and private schools “have a responsibility to help their students (regardless of their ethnicity and nationality) to gain a correct understanding and objective … of the concept of national security and the National Security Law, as well as the duty to cultivate a law-abiding spirit among its students. “
Others are moving to Canada and Australia, where many Hong Kong residents are dual-resident, while several prominent activists and politicians have sought asylum in the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States.
“The (exodus) is already happening, especially for families with young children,” said opposition lawmaker Lester Shum last year. “If I put myself in their shoes, I can understand the fear and concern they have for the next generation. Children cannot have bright prospects or a bright future in Hong Kong and therefore, to protect that … it is understandable because people want to leave. “
Concerns for teachers
For school officials, both administrators and teachers, the new rules open the worrying possibility of being reported by students for violating national security, which can result in job loss or, in extreme cases, in prison.
Although for many older Chinese these practices have worrying echoes of the Cultural Revolution, in which Red Guard teenagers frequently abused and even murdered teachers, these campaigns have intensified under the government of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“The guideline emphasized the defense of the Party leadership over the work of the CYP and the fundamental task of nourishing capable and well-prepared young people to join the communist cause,” according to the state news agency Xinhua.
Eric Cheung of CNN contributed reporting.