Hong Kong schools must infuse civic, moral values into all subjects under new framework to be revealed soon

Hong Kong schools will need to infuse civic values including law-abidingness and national identity into all subjects under a new teaching framework to address a “passive and self-indulgent mindset” in some young people, the Post has learned.

A source on Monday revealed details of the new requirements after Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung wrote in his blog the previous day that a committee would soon announce a trial version of the “Values Education Curriculum Framework” after deliberations lasting more than a year.

The framework would require all secondary and primary school subjects, including languages, cultural studies and even computing lessons, to be infused with nine moral and civic values, a committee member told the Post.

The scheme, which will replace the “Moral and Civic Education Curriculum Framework”, will add two new values, law-abidingness and empathy, to the existing seven – perseverance, respect for others, responsibility, national identity, commitment, integrity, and care for others.

Yeung said the new framework was needed as he found the self-indulgent attitude of some young people and the trending idea of “laying flat” worrying. He was referring to an emerging lifestyle where young people reject hard work and adopt an indifferent attitude towards life.

“This passive mindset makes people feel dispirited and it finally hinders the development of society,” Yeung warned in his blog.

He said the Standing Committee on Values Education under the Curriculum Development Council would raise some outcomes that needed to be achieved at different learning stages. Yeung stressed that values education had to include patriotic education.