Compulsory courses not the best way to promote understanding of Hong Kong national security: outgoing Baptist University chief
- Universities have flexibility in teaching subject, but there are ‘grey areas’ in new law, Roland Chin says
- Discussions, workshops among ways to show place of national security in culture, history, global affairs
Forcing students to take compulsory courses is not the best way to get them to learn about national security, according to Baptist University’s outgoing president Roland Chin Tai-hong.
Taking an integrated approach might be better, he said, by explaining the concept of national security in the context of culture, history and global affairs through discussion and debate.
“In universities, we don’t do spoon-feeding,” he told the Post in an interview last week. “If we just have students reciting the national security law 1,000 times, it won’t work.”
Chin, 68, who has been president and vice-chancellor of the publicly funded university since 2015, is retiring at the end of this month.
He said the liberal arts institution in Kowloon Tong, with about 800 full-time staff and more than 10,000 students, was planning a review of its curriculum to find ways to fulfil its responsibilities under the law which Beijing imposed in June.