Scrap national education and replace with history, culture core curriculum
Dogged by controversies just three months after taking office, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has pledged to tackle them quickly. Specifically, he says he will rule on the future of national education as soon as the committee reviewing it reaches a conclusion, without waiting for a formal written report. Critics of the school curriculum proposal will ask why he is waiting. The Committee on the Implementation of Moral and National Education was tasked with ensuring that the teaching materials are unbiased and the teaching methods liberal. Its chairwoman, Anna Wu Hung-yuk, said late last week it would advise the government to "invalidate" the curriculum guidelines.
The programme has triggered huge protests against what critics call an attempt to brainwash youngsters with lessons in patriotism. The committee's stance means either that it is not satisfied that the materials and teaching methods are unbiased and liberal, or that it sees scrapping the guidelines as the only practical way to deal with a perception that they are not.
In any case, the committee's advice effectively renders the programme an empty shell - a subject without any content. Wu should lose no time in briefing Leung, and he should lose no time in drawing a line under the issue. Leung has already tried to placate opposition by amending the rollout plan, and removing an implementation date and troublesome parts of the teaching guidelines. His pledge to make a quick decision on the committee's advice does not leave much room for trying to salvage the programme. He should scrap it.
That does not mean there is no place for national education. As the government has pointed out, it inherited the proposal from its predecessor. The flaw was in the implementation. Our next generation does need to understand China. The core elements of national education - teaching about Chinese history, culture and society - remain important. We can encourage and enable schools and teachers to educate pupils about China according to an unbiased, objective approach.
No one is seriously suggesting Hongkongers do not have a sense of patriotism, pride and belonging when it comes to China. But they do need to know China better. Hong Kong harbours nuanced sensitivities rooted in a singular history as a modern Chinese city. But they can be harnessed for national unity with an approach that nurtures positive values and independent thinking.