Anger runs high, teacher strike likely, national education activists say

It was likely that students and teachers would go on strike as emotions against the national education curriculum were intensifying, an activist alliance said as classes across Hong Kong started on Monday morning.

Eva Chan Sik-chee, convener of the National Education Parents’ Concern Group, said in a radio interview that a strike would require Hongkongers to be “frightened and angry enough”, and those emotions had been building up in the past few days.

“Scores of alumni are petitioning to scrap national education, and it emerged in the past few days that some teachers were told to sign a confidentiality agreement concerning the subject’s teaching material in a school. All these are stirring up people’s emotions,” she said. “We were reserved in a strike before because we were not sure whether we could arouse more parents’ concerns.”

Chan said the government’s responses were frustrating. “It’s pretending that it can’t see us or can’t hear our voices. There’s no way to wake up a person who is pretending to be sleeping.”

(Video: Baptist Lui Ming Choi Primary School (BLMCPS) in Sha Tin is one of the eight primary schools in Hong Kong starting national education lessons on Monday. By Hedy Bok)