An elite-schools association is among more than a dozen groups opposing the introduction of moral and national education as a compulsory school subject.
The Grant Schools Council, representing 22 top schools, urged the government to drop the plan because the proposed curriculum was too heavily focused on the nation instead of on personal and family development.
'In Chinese wisdom, one should talk about cultivating oneself and bringing order to family before governing the country,' council representative John Tan, principal of Wah Yan College, told legislators. 'The proposed subject is imbalanced.'
Apart from Wah Yan College, the council also includes schools such as Diocesan Boys' School, La Salle College, St Joseph's College and St Paul's College.
A number of religious and teachers' groups also opposed the plan at a special Legislative Council meeting. They accused the authorities, which plan to start the subject in primary schools next year and secondary schools in 2013, of bulldozing through an unpopular subject. A majority of the 48 speakers at the meeting opposed introduction of the subject, for which a four-month consultation began in May.
Pan-democrats accuse the government of introducing the new subject in response to demands from Beijing as a means of 'brainwashing' the next generation.
Legislator Cheung Man-kwong, a democrat who represents the education sector, said the government should withdraw the subject in the face of such strong opposition.