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Lifetime ban for Hong Kong teacher who taught distorted class on Sino-British opium war ‘too harsh’, some parents say
- Four of five parents of children at Ho Lap Primary School told the Post they felt the teacher’s deregistration was a step too far
- But Education Bureau said the evidence showed not only a lack of basic knowledge, but the ability to correctly understand teaching materials
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Parents at the Hong Kong primary school where a teacher was deregistered for giving students a distorted history of the first opium war have offered mixed reactions to the education authorities’ decision, with at least some believing the lifelong ban was “too harsh”.
Among the five parents at Ho Lap Primary School in Tsz Wan Shan who spoke to the Post on Friday, a day after officials revealed the delisting, four said the punishment was disproportionate or unfair to the teacher involved.
School principal Ng Shu-tung, meanwhile, said the incident was an individual case, adding the school had tightened internal supervision for teaching materials to prevent similar events from reoccurring.
The educator was accused by authorities of relying on “wild guesses” in class and providing incorrect historical details to pupils, including telling a Primary Two class that the first opium war, fought between China and Britain from 1839 to 1842, was the result of “Britain’s attempt to ban opium smoking in China” – the opposite of the reality.
Officials also said he told pupils that paper had been invented to “prevent the extinction of animals”, as it had replaced the use of turtle shells and animal bones.
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