#Censorship #Education
Authorities Remove Teaching Materials on Human Rights and Protesting in Hong Kong

The Education Bureau (#EDB) in Hong Kong has been promoting values education in recent years, and it is rating the "National identity" and "law-abiding" as one of the most important values.

It is also found that some learning and teaching resources under the "Human Rights Education" category have been chopped with the latest website update, including group projects to collect press clippings for demonstrations, studying "why protesters have their demands", etc.

As the 33rd anniversary of the June Fourth Incident approaches, the timing of this update becomes sensitive, though the Education Bureau said yesterday that the recent update "has nothing to do with the June Fourth Incident, so there's no need to make unnecessary speculations".

In the Education Bureau's original framework, students are expected to "respect human rights". These wordings were removed in the pilot version of the "Values Education Curriculum Framework" launched last year.

In addition, the recommendation to students to "cherish freedom and respect the freedom of others" through the #RTHK programme "City Forum" was also removed.

A primary school principal, who did not wish to be named, said she felt helpless about the change in the teaching resources. She said that despite the clear new content, some of the removed items should be available for teaching, but becoming a grey area after the #NationalSecurityLaw came into effect. She worried that teaching such materials might touch on sensitive topics and lead to "consequences".

"For example, teachers should have taught the June 4 incident on June 4, but now they feel that they could no longer teach it under the National Security Law. There's a lot of pressure on the schools and the teachers, that we don't know if anyone would complain about what we teach to the authority," she said.

Source: Mingpao #Jun04

#NSL #Education #June4

https://bit.ly/3yiZ0yo

Hong Kong Schools Schedule National Security Education Activities, Mainland Exchange Tours

Following the Education Bureau's (#EDB) push to increase emphasis on "Citizenship and National Security Education", many Hong Kong schools have scheduled numerous activities around patriotic topics.

Read more:
Hong Kong's “National Education Calendar” suggests discussing #ChineseCommunistParty development and watching three "patriotic anti-Japanese" films a year
https://publielectoral.lat/BeWaterHK/866

According to the "Primary School Profiles 2022" published by the EDB in September, these activities include exchange trips with schools in mainland China and quiz competitions. Out of the 500-plus primary schools in Hong Kong, 59 will be organizing flag-raising teams this year.

HKFEW Wong Cho Bau School, run by the pro-Beijing Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers (#HKFEW), plans to establish exchange tours with sister schools in mainland China. The school aims to "deepen the students' knowledge of the history and culture of the motherland" through poetry reading, studying Chinese music and water painting.

Alliance Primary School in Kowloon Tong, ranked among the top primary schools in the city, will host a "Life in the Mainland Experience Tour" in primary year 5, "to let students gain a deeper understanding of student life in poorer areas, and to learn to give and be thankful". ELCHK Hung Hom Lutheran Primary School will have "scholarship tours", sending students abroad on exchanges with sister schools in places such as Canada and Beijing, so they could learn more about the world and the motherland. Several schools belonging to the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals will also participate in the EDB's mainland exchange program.

Many schools have followed the EDB's suggested calendars and planned events on "important dates". ELCHK Faith Love Lutheran School explains: "Through activities such as Nanjing Massacre memorial day, constitution day, flag-raising ceremonies, and Speeches under the National Flag, students will learn National Security Education, and develop their concept of their country and respect for rule of law."

[editor's note: "Speeches under the National Flag" is a routine part of flag-raising ceremonies in China's schools, featuring speeches by teachers and outstanding students, as well as individuals deemed "model workers" by the Communist Party. The practice is prescribed under China's National Flag Law, so that students from kindergarten onward could "develop a sense of duty to love the country."]

In addition to events on "important dates", many schools are integrating national security education into their regular curriculum. Diocesan Girls' Junior School and SKH Chi Fu Chi Nam Primary School are among the schools who stated this intention.

source: In-Media HK #Sep04

https://bit.ly/3CXtNDM

#NationalEducation #NationalSecurityLaw #NationalFlagLaw #Education #Mainlandization