Class boycott splits Anglicans and Catholics
Two Christian denominations take different approaches to strike. Anglicans will mark pupils down, while Catholics will not penalise
Hong Kong's Catholics and Anglicans - two of the city's biggest education providers - are on opposite sides of the divide over how to handle a looming class boycott at secondary schools by pupils angry at Beijing's restrictions on democracy for the city.
While the Catholic diocese has told its schools not to penalise pupils for taking part in strikes from September 22, a leader of the Anglican Church warned pupils they would receive lower marks for conduct if they skipped class. The Catholic diocese runs 87 middle and secondary schools with more than 70,000 pupils, while the Anglican Church has more than 30 such schools.
"Of course we do not want to punish students … but it's common sense that those students should not expect an A for conduct," said Reverend Peter Koon, provincial secretary general of the Sheng Kung Hui, or Anglican Church. Fighting for democracy was not a "legitimate reason" to skip class and distributing leaflets or wearing the protest symbol, a yellow ribbon, would breach school rules, Koon said, adding: "We do not want to bring politics into secondary schools."
However, the schools would accept applications for a day's leave.
The different stances reflect a wider divide between the two churches. While Catholics have long played a key role in the democracy fight, Anglican archbishop the Most Reverend Paul Kwong is a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and was criticised in July for urging activists to "remain silent".
Catholic schools have been told to make arrangements for pupils who join the boycott, though pupils have been told to seek permission from their parents to strike.
Cardinal John Tong Hon, head of the diocese, told the church newspaper he shared the feelings of Hongkongers worried about Beijing's limits on nominations for the 2017 chief executive election.
Meanwhile, student activist group Scholarism yesterday named 88 secondary schools where pupils had set up concern groups on political reform. Scholarism said these groups would attend meetings on the class boycott and provide support to the pro-democracy movement.
Dr Yip Wai-ming, principal of St Louis School in Sai Ying Pun, said the concern group there did not represent the whole school or all of its student body.
"We always respect [pupils'] freedom to express their views," said Yip. "If they don't want to have classes, we can arrange other forms of education, such as making the day a liberal studies day. But if they don't want to come to school, they must gain their parents' approval first and let us know why."
An administrator at one of the 88 schools said officials had met the four current and two former pupils who set up the concern group and found their plans mature and positive.
"It's absolutely worthy of approval that young people are concerned about political reform," he said, while insisting that his name and that of the Tsuen Wan school not be disclosed due to concerns over retaliation. "We feel they are handling [the boycott] maturely."
The pro-democracy Professional Teachers' Union - which represents more than 90,000 educators - also issued guidelines on boycotts yesterday. While the union would not actively encourage underage pupils to strike, it said the rights of children to free speech and assembly should be respected.
The union plans an education campaign in parallel with the boycott to nurture students' democratic beliefs and stimulate discussion of reform.
More than 30 university teachers yesterday launched a signature campaign in support of students who boycott classes.
