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So Kwok-sang, the secretary general of the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority. Photo: Sam Tsang

Law requires Hong Kong exam authority to comply with chief executive’s orders, education officials say

  • Reminder comes as testing supervisor announces more time needed to review Education Bureau’s request to remove controversial history question
  • Students were asked if Japan ‘did more good than harm’ to China in the early 20th century, sparking criticism from pro-establishment figures and Beijing

Hong Kong education officials reminded the exam authority of its duty to comply with directives issued by the chief executive after the statutory body said it would need more time to decide whether to agree to their request to scrap a university entrance history test question that asked whether Japan “did more good than harm” to China in the early 20th century.

The Education Bureau made the statement at 11pm on Monday, an hour after the authority said that given the many considerations involved, further discussion was required to review in detail how to handle the issue and reach a suitable arrangement. Council members had agreed to fully cooperate with the bureau on their review of the authority’s existing question-setting mechanisms, it said.

A bureau spokeswoman pointed to the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority Ordinance, which states the chief executive may give the supervisor direction in relation to matters that affect the public interest and which must be followed.

The authority’s meeting, which Deputy Secretary for Education Hong Chan Tsui-wah attended along with another education official, was held a day after Hong published a 2,500-word article on the bureau’s website defending the request made last Friday. Hong called the question “completely unreasonable” and said exams should never lead students to discuss the positive values of invasions, massacres or ethnic cleansing.

Hong Kong exam chiefs say Carrie Lam could order them to scrap question

Some student groups threatened on Monday to launch a legal battle against the authority if it scrapped the question in the Diploma of Secondary Education exam.

The question, put to 5,200 candidates on Thursday, asked about Japan’s effect on China between 1900 and 1945. To provide the answer, students were to use their own knowledge and two excerpts of reading material, one on Japan’s plans to allow in Chinese students to study law and politics during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) and the other about a Japanese conglomerate’s scheme to provide financial support to the provisional government of the Kuomintang that preceded the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.

Education officials also criticised the question as leading and the reference materials as biased.

Japanese troops enter Guangzhou in Guangdong province during the occupation of China in this undated image. Photo: Handout

So Kwok-sang, the authority’s secretary general, said the meeting would comprehensively review the issues. “We understand the impact could be far-reaching,” So said. “I am sure council members would understand and follow up carefully and seriously.”

The exam assessment authority is an independent self-funding body and council members are appointed by the chief executive.

The threat of the legal battle was made by the Hong Kong Secondary Students’ Action Platform, formed by the Demosisto party and student groups Ideologist and Demovanile. Members petitioned outside the authority’s office and vowed to seek a judicial review and an injunction if the organisation “buckled under pressure” and removed the question.

Hong Kong exam chiefs say Carrie Lam could order them to scrap question

“It would be an act of interference against academic freedom,” spokesman Isaac Cheng Ka-long said. “With this precedent, other subjects like Chinese history and liberal studies would come under more pressure in the future, and self-censorship would become worse.”

He warned the legal action could delay marking papers and test results but blame would rest with the authorities. They could begin the process as soon as next Monday, provided the exam authorities had reached a decision.

The group also cited an online petition that it and four other concern groups started on Friday that calls for “political interference in education” to stop. It garnered 60,000 signatures in three days, 1,281 of which were from candidates sitting this year’s history exam and 954 from teachers.

Cheng said the figures represented a fifth of the total number of students who sat the exam and showed strong opposition to cancelling the question.

Exam candidate Thomas Loh said he supported the legal action. “The government’s action will have a big impact on us in terms of our grades and psychological trauma,” he said. “We have studied three years for this subject, and in one stroke, our efforts have all gone down to drain.”

He said he expected to score a 5, the third-highest grade in the seven-tier system but could only hope for a 4 if the question was removed, as he had spent a lot of time on the answer.

Loh said he argued Japan did more good than harm to China during the period, but he believed it could be argued both ways. He denied the question was leading.

History question put candidates in ‘unreasonable’ position: official

Tang Fei, vice-chairman of the pro-establishment Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers, reiterated that exam authorities should scrap the question as soon as possible.

“If the question is not being invalidated, it would mean that the exam authorities approve the hidden values behind … it should be invalidated as early as possible to avoid more troubles,” Tang said.

The Legislative Council’s education panel would hold a special meeting next Monday to discuss the issue with representatives from both the bureau and the exam board invited, according to panel chairwoman and lawmaker Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee.

Members of Demosisto petition outside the exam authority’s office in Wan Chai on Monday. Photo: Sam Tsang

Panel vice-chairman and vice-president of the pro-democracy Professional Teachers’ Union Ip Kin-yuen sent a letter to the exam authority urging council members to uphold professionalism and strictly follow procedures when handling the matter.

The Education Bureau first lashed out on Thursday evening at the exam authority for setting the question, an hour after the Office of the Commissioner of the Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong threw its weight behind criticism over the matter levelled by some pro-Beijing figures.

Pro-establishment figures and mainland internet users were quick to express outrage, saying the question blatantly ignored the suffering of the Chinese people during the eight-year Japanese occupation.

State news agency Xinhua also slammed the question as “poisonous” in a commentary that warned the “rage of all Chinese sons and daughters would not be able to be settled” if it were not removed.

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This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: more time sought over exam decision
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