Patriotism, national security education should make up a quarter of primary schools’ teaching time, Hong Kong Education Bureau says
- Curriculum guide for primary schools was last updated in 2014 and needed to be brought in line with kindergarten and secondary ones, bureau says
- Schools asked to spend up to one-fourth of study time during six years of primary education on activities and talks about patriotism
The Education Bureau has asked primary schools in Hong Kong to put more emphasis on patriotism and national security in its first change to the curriculum in eight years.
The bureau on Thursday suggested schools spend up to one-fourth of the study time during the six years of primary education on activities and talks about, among other topics, “the understanding of Chinese culture, the constitution, Basic Law and national security education”.
Authorities also recommended organising “cross-disciplinary” exchange visits to mainland China.
A bureau spokesman said the revision was to update the old “Basic Education Curriculum Guide” for primary schools adopted in 2014.
He added that there was a need to update the primary curriculum guide to “enhance student learning”, noting that the ones for kindergarten and secondary education had been updated in 2017.
“The [primary curriculum] guide aligns with the [kindergarten and secondary education ones], as well as follows the direction of ‘sustain, deepen, focus on learning to learn’,” he said.
According to the bureau’s circulars to schools, the new guide sets out seven learning goals for primary pupils which emphasise the importance of nurturing a sense of belonging to the country. These are: the Chinese culture, values education, active learning, STEAM education, media and information literacy, balanced physical and mental development, and a healthy lifestyle.
The term STEAM refers to a curriculum based on teaching five academic disciplines – science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics.