Two Christian organisations will not introduce the controversial national education subject in their primary schools in September.
The opposition by Sheng Kung Hui - Hong Kong's Anglican Church - and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hong Kong comes as many people and groups are calling for the course to be scrapped.
'What [the course] is actually aiming at remains unclear. We will continue our existing [teaching] practice until things are clarified,' Timothy Ha Wing-ho, Sheng Kung Hui's education adviser, said recently, referring to class time dedicated to moral teachings.
The church runs about 150 schools. Ha said it had proven difficult to blend national education with a religious curriculum.
Not introducing the subject now 'is not the end of the world', he said. 'Religious groups are already contributing a great deal to promoting moral values.'
Primary schools are being encouraged to offer national education - which aims to instil national pride and civic responsibility - from September, with secondary schools to follow next year. The subject will become compulsory in 2015 at primary level and 2016 in secondary schools.