National education curriculum guide will help students think independently

The Education Bureau released the refined curriculum guide in 2012 after a four-month public consultation in 2011 to gauge the views of different stakeholders. More than 1,000 submissions were received through various channels including large-scale consultation sessions, questionnaires to schools, and opinions expressed through e-mails, faxes and letters.

The clear objective of the moral and national education curriculum guide is to cultivate students' capacity to distinguish right from wrong and to think independently.

This subject enables students to acquire desirable personal, moral and national qualities through classroom learning, as well as practices in their daily life.

Schools are not obliged to fully implement the moral and national education subject this September. There is a three-year 'initiation period' (2012/13 to 2014/15 and 2013/14 to 2015/16 for primary and secondary schools respectively) for schools to introduce the subject in a progressive manner, taking into account the vision and mission laid down by their school sponsoring bodies, and the readiness of the school and their teachers.

Schools may exercise their discretion and professional judgment in deciding the learning and teaching resources. There are no mandatory learning and teaching resources imposed by the government. Indeed, more than 80 per cent of the subject content is on moral education, while the part on contemporary development under dispute and fear of possible 'brainwashing' accounts for about 3 per cent. Teachers should not avoid discussion of controversial issues.