Hong Kong lawmakers accuse education authorities of failure to boost patriotism in schools through more recognition of war memorial days
- Memorial days designed to mark the struggle against Japanese invasion should be highlighted more to boost patriotism in schools, legislators say
- Education authorities told not enough done over the past 20 years to increase patriotism among schoolchildren
The education system should help increase patriotism by boosting the participation of Hong Kong schoolchildren in memorial days designed to honour the country’s resistance to the Japanese invasion, Beijing loyalist legislators have said.
Lawmakers on Monday said at a Legislative Council panel set up to discuss ways to promote national security education that school authorities had not done enough over the past two decades to highlight the fight against Japanese aggression.
Stanley Ng Chau-pei, president of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, accused education officials of failing to highlight the contribution of war heroes to the struggle against Japan.
“Hong Kong has a lot of historical relics to mark the war of resistance against Japan. We should strengthen efforts to make better use of them to allow students to feel and learn this part of history on the spot,” Ng said.
“Educators seldom make use of the several annual memorial days for teaching.”
The call came after the University of Hong Kong announced that all undergraduates in the next academic year would have to complete a compulsory online course on the national security law, China’s constitution and the Basic Law – the city’s mini-constitution – as a graduation requirement.