Freedom of speech in peril, say academics
Government interference over education institute's merger becomes 'intolerable'
The government has interfered in the affairs of the Hong Kong Institute of Education to such an extent that curbs on freedom of speech are now 'intolerable', according to an academic at the institute.
Victor Lai Ming-hoi said Education and Manpower Bureau officials had taken him to task several times since 2004 for criticising planned reforms of arts education under the new senior secondary curriculum.
'Limits on freedom of speech have become intolerable,' said Dr Lai, associate professor of visual arts and formerly the head of the institute's department of creative arts and physical education.
His allegations led a legislator to claim the government's 'evil hand' had penetrated academia. But the bureau said communication with academics had been 'twisted'.
Dr Lai claimed a principal assistant secretary of the bureau had 'indicated dissatisfaction' during a meal at an Admiralty hotel after he criticised 'marginalisation' of arts education at a forum in February 2004.
He also alleged that in November 2004 an official of the visual arts branch of the Curriculum Development Institute said he would not be awarded tenders for special teacher training programmes if he continued to criticise the reforms. Dr Lai said he had not received any tenders since then.
He said that in July 2005, he had received a call from a principal assistant secretary about an article he wrote for a Chinese-language newspaper that suggested some officials had downgraded arts education to vocational status. Dr Lai said the official had questioned why he wrote it and suggested he notify the bureau before publicising his views.
Democrat Yeung Sum claimed the 'evil hand' of the government had penetrated academia. 'Some officials will have to bear political responsibility if the allegations are proved true,' he said.
But a bureau spokeswoman insisted there had been no attempt to curb freedom of speech and it was 'deeply disappointed' that communications between officials and academics 'have been twisted'.
'The bureau has never made an attempt to interfere with the autonomy of institutions and their academic freedom,' she said.
University Education Concern Group spokeswoman Dora Choi Po-king said academics were becoming less willing to speak 'because there may be implications for the allocation of resources'.
Dr Lai's comments came after the institute's vice-president for academic affairs, Bernard Luk Hung-kay, said this week that Secretary for Education and Manpower Arthur Li Kwok-cheung had pressured the institute to merge with a university. Professor Luk has also claimed Professor Li instructed the institute's president, Paul Morris, to sack four academics who criticised the reforms.
The issue has gathered momentum since Professor Morris, whose reappointment was rejected by the institute's largely government-appointed council last month, accused the education minister of trying to force the institute to merge.
