Few details of the bill have been revealed, but state broadcaster CCTV reported that there would be “targeted regulations” on how people in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, as well as Chinese people overseas, should promote patriotic education.

China News Service said that sections of the bill drawn up for Hong Kong would specify that measures should be taken to improve “recognition of Chinese culture and consciousness to safeguard national unity”.

But Langton Cheung Yung-pong, the honorary chairman of the Hong Kong Aided Primary School Heads Association, said city schools should be allowed more leeway because of the historical differences between Hong Kong and the mainland on how patriotic education was delivered.

“Patriotic education in Hong Kong started late. It is not feasible to require Hong Kong to share the same progress as the mainland has,” Cheung explained. “Hong Kong should be allowed to have its own pace and intensity to implement patriotic education.”

The veteran teacher added he expected the city government, if the bill was approved, would reward schools that did well, instead of punishing those that did not.

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Tik Chi-yuen, Hong Kong’s only non-establishment lawmaker, said he expected the proposed legislation would not bring dramatic changes to the way patriotic education was delivered as the city had already come up with effective methods.

But he added: “Certain flexibility should be given to schools and teachers in applying this law.

“This is the first time a certain type of education is written into a law. It takes time for schools and teachers to learn, digest and apply.”

A secondary school teacher responsible for the citizenship and social development course, who asked not to be named, said colleagues had already been tied up with “a growing list of tasks and activities” related to national education.

The teacher added that the proposed law would diminish room for critical thinking in classrooms.

“Will students be still allowed to discuss in class whether China’s reform and open-door policy in the 1970s is good or bad after the bill is passed?” the teacher asked. “I doubt it.”

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The Education Bureau said in a written reply to the Post that it would monitor the progress of the bill and cooperate as required.

The bureau added that national education was already part of the curriculum and that the authorities would continue to offer suggestions for improvements in schools.

The Post has contacted lawmaker Starry Lee Wai-king, the city’s sole representative on the NPC Standing Committee, for comment.

The bureau on Monday also asked schools to play a special music video featuring the song “The Pearl of the Orient” to kindergarten, primary, secondary, special school students, teachers and parents as part of the celebrations to mark the 26th anniversary of the city’s return to Chinese rule on July 1.

The bureau said that the music video featured more than 500 pupils from 18 primary schools and was produced to help develop a strong sense of national identity.

Pupils in the video raise national flags, perform Chinese dances, play traditional musical instruments and demonstrate Chinese calligraphy, along with other school activities.

“The Pearl of the Orient”, written and performed by Taiwanese singer Lo Ta-yu in the 1980s, emphasised Hong Kong’s links to China.

Additional reporting by William Yiu