I refer to “ Parents, students among 20,000 protesting against deregistration of teacher ” (October 8). Indeed the teacher was in the wrong if he had been, as alleged, teaching or promoting Hong Kong independence. But what kind of punishment is this? Deregister someone for life? He should have been warned first instead of being severely, seriously punished. Why deprive him of his livelihood for ever while citing the Basic Law? Now people here should remember forever they are actually living in China and not in “Hong Kong, which is an integral part of China” – “one country, two systems” is only applicable at the whim, wish and mercy of the mainland. The freedoms of speech, expression and the press have been narrowly limited and interpreted as whatever the “elders” say they are. The actions of Hongkongers are being strictly monitored by the central government. The mainland is eager to punish people here severely, mostly without warning. Our administration, meanwhile, is very obedient, but hardly helpful to the public. The teacher who has left his job had violated the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution, the Education Bureau said. But 20,000 schoolteachers, parents and students have protested against what they feel is his unjustified deregistration for life, as there was no criminal conviction and the school’s own investigations twice failed to establish the allegations against him. The online campaign they supported also sent auto-emails to Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung and Permanent Secretary for Education Michelle Li Mei-sheung, urging that the unprecedented ban be rolled back, with the petition organisers calling the incident “political suppression on teachers and a violation of school autonomy with an aim to create white terror”. What you need to know about the row over a disqualified Hong Kong teacher It may be also noted that more than 1,100 alumni and students’ parents of the primary school in question co-signed a statement in protest, decrying what they see as the lack of procedural justice and calling on the authorities to uphold Hong Kong’s core values. Therefore, I hope the Secretary for Education will understand the feelings of the people and avoid meting out this harsh and severe punishment. A.L. Nanik, Tsim Sha Tsui Teaching in black and white will stunt critical thinking I am writing to give my opinion about the case of a primary teacher who was found to have violated the Basic Law. This teacher has been banned for life because the government found that he was “purportedly spreading the idea of Hong Kong independence” to students. However, he was teaching the topic of freedom of speech. It is a topic which does have grey areas. It is easy for others to misunderstand ideas, when certain examples are given. But these examples are only meant to help students understand a topic better. During life education and liberal studies lessons, there are so many topics that fall into a grey area around the Hong Kong national security law. Such action as taken by the Education Bureau means that a lot of life education and liberal studies teachers might face punitive action in the future. Some teachers who do not want to fall afoul of the law and are afraid of consequences could give examples that only support one side of the argument. This may then mean that students are unable to develop a neutral view. In these subjects, the most important thing is not whether a position is correct; the most important thing is to learn to look at the whole matter in a neutral way, by seeing both sides of the argument. Also, concerns about the national security law may make some teachers simply skip topics that fall within the grey area. Consequently, students would lack knowledge of these topics and could end up unknowingly breaking the law, as they would not be aware of its details. Maybe there can be some exemptions made when teachers are addressing students in class. That way, teachers would not need to worry about breaking the law when discussing controversial topics with students, and they in turn can learn more. It could even ameliorate the response to the national security law such that more citizens accept it. Sunny Li, Tiu Keng Leng Covid-19 is hurting our students, again Two schools in Tseung Kwan O announced the suspension of classes after some of their students contracted Covid-19. This unbearable news means that the fourth outbreak of the virus is coming. So students need to go back to online lessons again. There are certain drawbacks to substituting online lessons for face-to-face classes: the most important of which is that the learning environment at home does not match up to that at school. In school, students can see their friends and build a serious learning environment. When students go to class, they switch to a more serious mode as they prepare for lessons and exams, this is true even for those who lack self-discipline otherwise. In contrast, home is a relaxing place for most. Students could be lying in bed or on the sofa during online lessons. In such a setting, they are unlikely to be prepared for hard work. For Form Six students who are preparing for the Diploma of Secondary Education exams, this will add to the months of off-site learning since the first outbreak. So they will be especially impacted and their results may be affected. I wish them good luck and I hope they will all do well no matter what. Herice Yip, Tseung Kwan O