More than 90 per cent of 500 Hong Kong teachers polled say liberal studies reform politically motivated

Name: How will the national security law change education in Hong Kong?
Uploaded: 2020-12-09T13:34:18.000Z
Duration: 4 min 55 s
Description: How will the national security law change education in Hong Kong?

Survey by 100,000-strong Professional Teachers’ Union covers nearly a fifth of city’s 2,800 subject educators

Education Bureau denies political agenda and says ‘inappropriate and misleading’ remarks sabotaged relations between authorities and teachers

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PTU vice-president and former opposition lawmaker Ip Kin-yuen (right) with a veteran liberal studies teacher. The pair are holding up placards protesting the reforms. Photo: Handout

Chan Ho-him

Published: 9:34pm, 9 Dec 2020Updated: 11:40pm, 9 Dec 2020

More than 90 per cent of 500 Hong Kong teachers polled have said they believe the government’s sweeping reform of the controversial liberal studies subject was politically motivated, while also disagreeing with the city leader’s remark that the subject had deviated from its original aims.

The survey by the 100,000-strong Professional Teachers’ Union (PTU) also showed more than 80 per cent of respondents strongly disagreed that the subject had radicalised students to join anti-government protests, a suggestion raised by pro-establishment figures.

A total of 502 liberal studies teachers were polled, accounting for nearly a fifth of the city’s 2,800 educators on the subject.

In a reply, an Education Bureau spokeswoman said the reform was not politically motivated but for the benefit of students. She added that the task force set up to review the curriculum had conducted a public consultation before releasing its final recommendations.

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How will the national security law change education in Hong Kong?

Without naming the union, the bureau also accused the group of making “inappropriate and misleading” remarks, which it said had sabotaged relations with teachers by claiming authorities put politics before professionalism.