Hong Kong teachers must love China to do their job properly, education chief says
Minister says educators must have strong national pride to foster identity in the next generation
China’s education minister has called for a stronger sense of national identity among Hong Kong’s teachers so they can do a better job of instilling patriotism in the city’s youth.
On the sidelines of the Communist Party’s national congress in Beijing, Chen Baosheng advised the city’s government to make sure teachers understood China “in a correct way” as part of efforts to advance national education.
“They [teachers] need to love the country first, identify with the country, have stronger national pride, and enjoy the fruits of China’s development together with the mainland,” Chen said.
In response, Hong Kong’s Education Bureau said it would design the relevant policies on its own, in keeping with the city’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law, while maintaining a “very important partnership with the Ministry of Education.
National education is a contentious issue for Hong Kong. The government was forced to shelve plans to make it a compulsory school subject in 2012 after strong opposition from parents and educators who raised fears that pupils could be “brainwashed”.