Quizzes, photo mosaic of ‘children’s smiles’ mark Hong Kong’s first National Security Education Day since Beijing imposed law on city
- Children as young as three have been asked to participate in a variety of events, but how schools have approached the day has differed greatly
- ‘I doubt whether children who cannot tie their own shoelaces can really understand [national security] in a meaningful way,’’ one parent says, as some groups urge boycott
While some kindergarten pupils were having their photos taken for a mosaic wall of “children’s smiles” under the national security theme, most schools were expected to at least hold flag-raising ceremonies and play the national anthem.
Some secondary school student concern groups, meanwhile, have called for their peers to boycott the activities, including turning their backs on the national flag and refusing to sing the anthem, March of the Volunteers.
“We hope to teach kindergarten pupils about the correct understanding of National Security Education Day, for instance, in terms of national identity, we are Chinese people living in Hong Kong,” kindergarten principal Nancy Lam Chui-ling said.
Lam, vice chair of the pro-Beijing Federation of Education Workers, also said children between three and six years old at her school would be told about law-abidingness and respect.
“National security law concepts are indeed difficult to teach to kindergarten kids. That’s why we hope to nurture them at a young age about positive values, so they can distinguish between black and white when they grow up,” she said.
The sweeping security legislation targets acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, and carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Schools and universities are required to promote national security education under the law.
Previously marked only with annual symposia, April 15 was declared National Security Education Day as part of wider legislation passed by Beijing in 2015. The Hong Kong government stepped in to begin distinguishing it with more fanfare following the subsequent passage of the national security law by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee.
It’s hard to understand how forcing children to smile for a photo educates them about national security
Some kindergartens were also planning to participate in an activity initiated by the Committee for Safeguarding National Security, which wants schools to create mosaic walls with photos of children’s faces to teach the importance of “working collectively to build the beautiful homeland”.
However, it was not compulsory, and several kindergartens told the Post they did not plan to participate in the mosaic project.
But at Causeway Bay Victoria Kindergarten and International Nursery – one of the schools taking part – at least one parent said he was unhappy about the plan and his child would not be taking part. A notice sent to parents on Tuesday said they, or teachers, could help children “take pictures of their smiling faces” to create the mosaic.
“It’s hard to understand how forcing children to smile for a photo educates them about national security,” the parent said.
“There is nothing wrong with the notion that students should learn about national interests. I doubt, however, whether children who cannot tie their own shoelaces can really understand it in a meaningful way.”
In a reply to the Post, the kindergarten said it was not counting the number of parents who chose not to participate in the mosaic wall. It added that a flag-raising ceremony, the singing of the national anthem and a sharing session about Chinese culture would be held for pupils on Thursday.
Many kindergartens and schools have also distributed pamphlets and paper bookmarks displaying 16 types of national security, including biosecurity, nuclear security, homeland security and security issues tied to technology, space and the polar regions.
Some student concern groups, including one at the Pentecostal Lam Hon Kwong School and the Student Front Union, have urged their peers to boycott Thursday’s activities to “resist brainwashing”. The Post has reached out to the Lam Hon Kwong School and its student group for comment.
Since the school year began in September, multiple guidelines suggesting schools hold more events to foster national identity have been distributed to principals, while top Beijing officials have recently highlighted the need for patriotic education among city youth.
In a circular to schools last month, Hong Kong’s Education Bureau suggested they hold flag-raisings and sing the national anthem on National Security Education Day, as education minister Kevin Yeung Yun-hung said more needed to be done in the wake of thousands of university and secondary school students being arrested in the 2019 anti-government protests.
The bureau revealed on Thursday it would also be distributing to educators copies of a 200-page book on the security law – hand-picked by China’s education minister Chen Baosheng, and compiled by mainland legal scholars including former liaison office legal affairs director Wang Zhenmin – to “support teachers [so they] correctly understand and implement national security education”.
Aside from flag-raising ceremonies, some schools, including Gertrude Simon Lutheran College in Yuen Long, planned to hold sharing sessions, mini-exhibitions and quiz competitions about the importance of national security.
Fung Kai No. 1 Primary School was among those holding similar activities, and said it would additionally display pupils’ work in a national security slogan design competition. Principal Chu Wai-lam said students would join the activities in separate sessions during class.
But one Primary Two student at the school remained puzzled after joining the activities.
“I don’t really know [what the Basic Law is],” said 9-year-old Jack. “I know today is National Security Education Day, but I am not sure what it means.”
Meanwhile, figures from the Education Bureau showed that, as of Thursday, more than 450 of 1,100 Hong Kong primary and secondary schools had signed up to join an online quiz competition held by the government, while 114 schools had students create more than 200 decorative notice board displays under the theme of security.
