Pro-Beijing teachers’ group in Hong Kong granted vacant school premises to set up centre for patriotic, national education
- Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers to create centre for teaching classes on flag-raising, hosting ‘large-scale seminars’
- Group chairman seeks public support in raising tens of millions of dollars
A pro-Beijing group in Hong Kong will convert a vacant school into a national education centre to showcase teaching models based on patriotism and train students in flag-raising etiquette.
Wong Kam-leung, chairman of the 37,000-strong Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers, said on Tuesday the group was given the school premises in Sha Tin by the Education Bureau to set up the support centre.
He said the centre, to open in June next year, was aimed at boosting patriotic and national security education in schools by showcasing exemplary teaching methods, offering training sessions for flag guard teams and holding seminars on relevant topics.
“We will hold some large-scale seminars before the 25th anniversary of the handover [next year],” Wong said, referring to July 1, the date of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule in 1997. “State leaders may visit the city.”
Wong added the federation needed to raise funds amounting to tens of millions of dollars from the public to support the centre’s operations.
The group had also revealed it would open a two-storey supermarket-cum-clubhouse in Mong Kok next June, following the disbandment of the 47-year-old Professional Teachers’ Union (PTU) in August. The PTU used to run two popular clubhouses and two supermarkets.