National security law: keep views on Hong Kong politics to yourself, international school group warns teachers in new guidelines
- Teachers working for the English Schools Foundation were told that while political issues are not off-limits, classroom ‘not a safe space’ for discussion
- Addressing politics requires ‘extreme care, sensitivity and skill’, according to guidelines, which stress classroom topics can be misinterpreted outside
The English Schools Foundation’s (ESF) guidelines also specify that while sensitive local or mainland political issues are not off-limits, and students should still be taught to think critically, the classroom is “not a safe space” for discussions or debate.
Titled “The National Security Law – A Guide for Teachers of Global Politics and Global Citizenship”, the internal 15-page document seen by the Post concludes: “Be balanced, be objective, don’t express your own views about local politics”.
The sweeping law, imposed on the city by Beijing on June 30, bans secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces to endanger national security.
The ESF runs 22 schools in the city, including seven that provide secondary-level education. There were about 18,000 pupils and more than 1,200 teachers across ESF schools, according to figures from 2017-18, with many of the teaching staff expats from Britain, Ireland, Australia, Canada and the United States.