Roundabout route to national education? Chinese history rule for Hong Kong secondary schools stokes fears of renewed push
City’s leader Carrie Lam announces that all Hong Kong secondary schools will be required to teach Chinese history as an independent compulsory subject at the junior levels, but some see ‘political undertones’ in the move
All Hong Kong secondary schools will be required to teach Chinese history as an independent compulsory subject at the junior levels from next year, the city’s leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has announced, in a move that has revived fears of a renewed push for a controversial national education curriculum.
The decision comes at a time of heightened youth disaffection amid concerns about independence advocacy in the city.
In keeping with her rhetoric since taking office on July 1, the chief executive stressed the importance of nurturing quality citizens who are “socially responsible” and “equipped with a sense of national identity” in her maiden policy address on Wednesday.
A source told the Post that the policy would be implemented across all junior secondary levels in the next school year, from Form One to Form Three.
The subject is currently already taught in all secondary schools at the junior levels but not always as an independent subject. According to last year’s figures, 89 per cent of the schools offered it as an independent subject, while others combined it with world history.