Discussions on Hong Kong independence off limits in schools and universities, education chief warns teachers

Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung defends his bureau’s decision to deregister a primary school teacher for life

Criminal investigation will not be pursued as incident occurred before security law was enacted but Yeung makes no such guarantee for future cases

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The teacher had worked at Alliance Primary School in Kowloon Tong. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 6:49pm, 6 Oct 2020Updated: 9:23am, 7 Oct 2020

Discussions on independence are off-limits in schools and universities, and teachers pushing a separatist stance could face criminal investigation, Hong Kong’s education chief warned on Tuesday.

Defending his bureau’s decision to deregister a primary school teacher for life, Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung said the unnamed person was spared a criminal investigation because the alleged offences were committed before a sweeping national security law came into force on June 30.

But Yeung made no such guarantee for future cases, describing the teacher’s actions as serious and premeditated in subjecting pupils at his Kowloon Tong school to independence advocacy.

“We are going to discuss with the Security Bureau and relevant law enforcement agencies about how to handle cases of a similar nature in future,” he said.

After news of the case broke late on Monday night, education officials on Tuesday followed up by accusing the teacher of formulating a lesson plan for Primary Five pupils on the banned Hong Kong National Party that included asking whether they agreed with the group’s pro-independence manifesto.

Kevin Yeung described the teacher’s actions as serious and premeditated. Photo: Edmond So

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