A former top education official who helped add liberal studies to Hong Kong’s curriculum has defended the government’s sweeping reforms of the subject but also called for recognising the role it has played in nurturing independent thinking among students over the years. Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun, a member of city leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s de facto cabinet, made the remarks to the Post a week after officials unveiled details of the overhaul, which include renaming liberal studies, grading it as a simple pass or fail, and vetting all textbooks. Lam had earlier said the subject had “deviated” from certain educational principles and dismissed suggestions the reform, backed by state media, was politically motivated. Law, who served as education minister from 2000 to 2002 and then in the No 2 spot for the next four years, said liberal studies should help turn students into “informed and responsible citizens with a sense of global and national identity”. What is liberal studies in Hong Kong and why is it controversial? She agreed with the criticism some textbooks contained unfavourable descriptions of China, which had led a section of students to hold a negative view of the nation. She maintained it had been “common” for education policies to deviate from their initial goals and called on educators to reflect on why that was the case. She presented her views in a lengthy statement sent to the Post on Thursday. Liberal studies was a key plank of a comprehensive effort to reform education launched by then-chief executive Tung Chee-hwa in 2000. The subject was made mandatory for senior secondary students in 2009, with an aim to teach them critical thinking, but soon became mired in controversy. Pro-Beijing figures blamed it for radicalising young people, while during last year’s anti-government protests, Tung labelled the subject a “complete failure”. But Law identified some positive aspects to liberal studies. A lot of professional teachers have put in a lot of effort into liberal studies over the years Fanny Law, adviser to city leader “A lot of professional teachers have put in a lot of effort into liberal studies over the years, while the subject has also nurtured many young people to be independent thinkers. I believe these should be fully recognised,” she said. “But controversies surrounding the subject have been incessant since its introduction and there have been many misconceptions about its curriculum design as well.” Some teachers were unfamiliar with curriculum guidelines and relied heavily on textbooks, part of which were biased and lacked a holistic view of certain topics such as national development, she said. Lam had reviewed how 10 books presented the modern China component – one of six making up liberal studies – and found areas she deemed a concern. Some presented information about the mainland’s environmental pollution, the difficulty citizens faced in obtaining health care, corruption of government officials, online censorship and the detention of human rights lawyers. “Even though these were based on facts, because of a lack of historical context and the background of relevant development, students might just see the individual phenomenon without knowing the reasons behind it,” she said. When liberal studies was introduced, the textbooks were not vetted in order to give schools some flexibility in how they approached the subject. But the Education Bureau introduced a “voluntary consultancy” service last year for the handful of publishers who produce the books, and the first batch of revised ones were adopted this September. Alterations made by at least two publishers included removing reference to the principle of “separation of powers” in Hong Kong, and toning down or replacing cartoons and descriptions critical of the local and central government. Law said given some textbooks had negatively affected pupils’ impression of the nation, “immediate reform” was indeed necessary. Will revamping Hong Kong’s liberal studies end critical thinking among students? Some teachers have expressed concerns that making the subject pass or fail could lead to students putting less effort into it. But Law said she believed they would remain passionate given proper guidance of teachers and government supervision. Lau Kam-fai, president of the Hong Kong Liberal Studies Teachers’ Association, disagreed with some of Law’s views. Textbooks had been mostly fair and balanced in presenting topics even before government vetting, he argued. “Textbooks contain views from both sides … while teachers are also professional and will not totally rely on the content,” Lau said. “Students will also raise questions and teachers can always supplement the content with other perspectives.” He urged officials to further explain the deviations the “hasty” reforms were intended to address. “Teachers are also concerned, if after a few years, the government will see other problems in the subject and another major revamp will be introduced?” Additional reporting by Gary Cheung