Veteran Hong Kong educators say teachers should be trained on controversial subjects, not disqualified for them

One professor says the local teacher who was disqualified for introducing pro-independence topics might have acted unprofessionally

But he nonetheless feels disqualification was the wrong approach, and could have worrying impact on students

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A security guard stands outside the Alliance Primary School in Kowloon Tong on Tuesday. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 10:00am, 7 Oct 2020Updated: 6:23pm, 10 Oct 2020

Hong Kong’s education authorities should be enhancing training so teachers can deal with contentious issues rather than summarily disqualifying them for introducing those ideas in the classroom, veteran educators say.

They also warned on Tuesday of far-reaching implications for minors’ critical thinking if teachers increasingly avoided discussing controversial matters with pupils in class.

The permanent disqualification of a teacher who allegedly asked Primary Five pupils at Alliance Primary School in Kowloon Tong to answer questions about freedom of speech and Hong Kong independence as part of a life education module has raised questions on how schools should properly address controversial issues in the classroom, especially after Beijing’s imposition of the sweeping national security law in June.

The exterior of the Alliance Primary School, where a teacher was disqualified over a lesson plan dealing with Hong Kong independence. Photo: Felix Wong

Leung Yan-wing, an adjunct associate professor at the Education University of Hong Kong, said on Tuesday that there was room for improvement in terms of the teacher’s professionalism as he had formulated his lesson plan based mainly on one documentary discussing Hong Kong independence, but Leung maintained that the strategy was far from advocating separatism, as education officials have suggested.

He added that he was worried the serious punishment of revoking a teacher’s qualification permanently was a “political decision”, and had far-reaching consequences for students’ development.