Photographer: Paul Yeung / Bloomberg
Photographer: Paul Yeung / Bloomberg
Hong Kong ordered schools to adopt a more patriotic curriculum and advised teachers to report any violation of the city’s national security law, the government’s biggest step yet to overhaul the education system following the 2019 protests.
The measurements, announced late Thursday, try to instill patriotism in kindergarten children through “storytelling, role-playing, drawing, singing, dancing, and other activities.” Students as young as six will learn to memorize crimes punishable by the National Security Act imposed on the city by China last year, including subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign powers. The curriculum covers all subjects from geography to biology.
“The basic principles of national security education are to provide students with a sense of belonging to the land, an affection for the Chinese people, a sense of national identity, and a sense of responsibility for safeguarding the national security, “The Hong Kong Education Office said in a statement.
The new curriculum may also affect Hong Kong about 52 international schools, mostly targeting the city’s expat population. The government statement said that international schools have a “responsibility” to assist their students in “gaining a correct and objective understanding” of the law, without effect.
Not a single international school Bloomberg contacted was available for immediate comment.
Cut off ‘black hands’
Beijing has blamed Hong Kong’s education system for promoting dissent and fueling months-long protests against the Chinese government’s rising power over the former British colony. Hong Kong authorities have earlier vowed to cut off the “black hands” – including teachers – who are deemed insufficiently patriotic.
The Hong Kong government tried to introduce a patriotic education curriculum in 2012, but explained the decision after massive protests. The latest effort to do this will further align the financial center with the education system in mainland China, where students reside, for example. required to study the teachings of President Xi Jinping.
The majority of frontline protesters during the 2019 unrest were college and high school students, and people under the age of 18 represented nearly one-fifth of the roughly 10,000 arrests made since December last year, according to data from Bloomberg. Students also organized protest activities, including human chain formation and class boycotts, actions prohibited under the new rules.
Ip Kin-yuen, a former legislator and a vice president of the Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union, said the new guidelines “ are not conducive to the learning or development of young minds, ” in an environment where people try avoid getting in trouble “the natural reaction is self-censorship.”
Owl Video
As part of the promotional material, the government produced a 7-minute animation with an owl explaining the concept of national security and saying it encompasses all aspects of Hong Kong society, including culture, cybersecurity and ecology. The video also says that it is “the right and duty of central authorities to enact national security law,” and that other countries have similar laws.
Garrie Chow, a father of three in schools in Hong Kong, said the new curriculum means that students “should not be allowed to think for themselves”.
In September, the English Schools Foundation, which operates 22 international schools in the city, released and distributed a 15-page set of guidelines urging teachers to tell students that the classroom is not a ‘safe space’ for discussion or debate of national security law , the South China Morning Post reported. ESF did not immediately respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment.
Migration wave
Imposing the new curriculum could contribute to the already increasing number of people emigrating to places like the UK and Taiwan. Some parents and teachers have cited Beijing’s growing control over schools in Hong Kong as a major reason for leaving.
Jojo, a 37-years old Chinese and special education teacher who would only give her first name for security fears said she plans to move to the UK later this year and will join thousands of others who have already done so through a path made available to Hong Kong holders the British national (overseas) passport. She is part of a WhatsApp group with 120 other local teachers helping educators acquire the skills and certifications necessary to secure a job in the UK
“The students will have to abide by (the rules), but it will have a major impact on their personal relationship with us,” said Jojo. “They won’t trust us.”
– With the help of Chloe Lo
(Updates with more background information)