All public primary schools will start teaching a controversial course in moral and national education in 2015 that officials say has been modified greatly in response to concerns about its potential for indoctrination.
Public secondary schools will follow in 2016.
The subject, which might include topics such as understanding the mainland's constitution, would take up no more than 5 per cent of class time, the Education Bureau said.
The bureau sought to reassure critics that the revised curriculum - which does not feature landmark political events such as the June 4 Tiananmen incident - would not dictate what to learn.
The curriculum would focus instead on developing critical thinking, it said.
However, teachers responsible for the subject would be sent to the mainland for seminars, it said.