Hong Kong will not use performance goals to measure patriotic education or punish schools, teachers for poor delivery, minister says
- Education chief Christine Choi says no need to establish key performance indicators to measure success of patriotic education
- Teachers or schools considered to be delivering patriotic education poorly will not face punishment, she affirms
Hong Kong will not adopt performance goals for teachers to determine the success of patriotic education or punish schools and educators for delivering it poorly, a minister has said.
Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin on Sunday said authorities would allow schools to evaluate performance in patriotic education.
“We will not use exams to assess how teachers conduct their classrooms,” Choi said on a television show, noting that at present there was no need to establish key performance indicators or implement additional assessments to ensure the quality of teaching.
“We also don’t see the necessary relation between teaching quality and whether an oath [to pledge allegiance] is taken,” she said, adding schools should bear the responsibility of conducting their own review of how well patriotic education was delivered.
Choi said the Education Bureau would instead focus more on professional areas, such as collaborative lesson planning, research on teaching approaches and school-based support, to work “hand-in-hand” with teachers to boost patriotism.
A government source earlier told the Post the humanities curriculum would focus on the country’s geography, history, latest developments and culture to boost awareness of national identity among students. It will be introduced in the 2025-26 academic year.
