#WhiteTerror #Education
Teacher's Contract Not Renewed For Allowing Students to Perform 'May Glory Be to HK' for Music Examinations

A senior teacher in Hong Kong issued an open letter condemning Heung To Middle School for censorship and unreasonably demanding the teachers to be aligned with the school's political position.

The school refused to renew the teacher's contract, citing the teacher's "failure to stop students from playing 'May Glory Be To Hong Kong' in a music examination" as the cause.

The teacher described the incident as political suppression, and a clear demonstration of white terror.

Source: Apple Daily #Jun10
#GlorytoHK #Exam

#Censorship #Education
School Censors Students' Hand Gesture from Graduate Photos

The education sector in Hong Kong is suffering from white terror lately.

According to a group of CNEC Lee I Yao Memorial Secondary School graduates, their graduation photo was altered because they made the “Five Demands, Not One Less” gesture, known from the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. In the touched-up photo, their hand gestures were changed from “5, 1” to “4, 2”.

Their parents complained to the photographers about the forced change, but were told the alteration was “an order from the school”. Many criticised that the freedom of speech is exploited and the school cannot even tolerate a hand gesture.

Source: Apple Daily
#Jun18 #5DN1L #whiteterror

#Education #WhiteWash #Curriculum #LiberalStudies
Hong Kong Gov't Imposes Heavy Censorships in Latest Revision of Liberal Studies Textbooks

The Education Bureau recently listed and published the changes in the latest revisions of Liberal Studies textbooks.

The section entitled “Present day Hong Kong” has been significantly changed. Apple Daily found out that most of the content related to human rights and social movements have been removed.

A comic strip in the original edition mentioned that the Causeway Bay Bookstore shareholder Paul Lee was kidnapped. However, in the revised version, that part was changed to a quote by the police saying that Lee “volunteered to go to mainland China”.

Overseas social movements such as the Catalan Independence Movement, the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia, have all been removed. Some teachers challenged the revision, claiming that the edits were made in an attempt to evade controversial topics.

Source: Apple Daily #Aug18
#Censorship #Brainwash #CCP #FailedState

#Education #HeungToMiddleSchool
Pro-China School in HK Harshly Penalizes Student for Showing Pro-democracy Slogan on Communication App and Threatens to Boot Him Out

The Heung To Middle School Students' Concern Group informed the media that the school principal and the discipline master met with a Form 4 student on Sept 7, 2020, as pro-democracy slogan was displayed as the student’s profile image on Microsoft Teams.

The student was severely penalized by the school for immediately suspending schooling for a week. Should the student want to continue his study, 2 major demerits are to be recorded to reflect his 'misconduct'. Besides, the school warned him from taking part in any pro-democracy activities in the future, or face expulsion straightaway.

In the presence of the student’s parents, the principal stressed that the school is handling the incident strictly, as it has "dented the school's reputation". It was said that the student has been "working against the school, blowing trivialities into a huge problem to attract public attention", which forced the school to make explanation to the public.

The school is well-known for being a pro-Chinese Communist Party education institution in Hong Kong. The principal even hinted for the student to “seek a new school” in the meeting, saying they did not believe the student would change his behavior. The school went on stressing that a dismissal could be the best solution.

Earlier in June this year, the same school dismissed a teacher for letting the students sing the song "May Glory To Hong Kong".

Source: Apple Daily; Stand News; Heung To Indigenous #Sept8
https://hk.appledaily.com/local/20200908/PC4SKIXJEFC2VGF7XBMCNOI5BA/

https://www.facebook.com/710476795704610/posts/3439293389489590/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CE1Vdb7lIAi/?igshid=106wjttp9k1r4

#FailedState #WhiteTerror #Censorship #FreeSpeech #HongKongYouth

#PoliticalOppression
#HKU Student union: Appointment of Chinese Academics as University's Pro-vice-president is a “Black-box Operation”

Along with several pto-democracy lawmakers, President of the Hong Kong University Students' Union, Yip Zi-lam held a press conference on October 26, 2020.

Yip comdemned the appointment of the university’s pro-vice-presidents as a “black-box operation” which lacked transparency to the stakeholders.

Yip pointed out that both candidates were closely connected to China and the arrangement is detrimental to the University’s autonomy.

In fact, one of the candidates is reportedly a Chinese Communist Party member:
https://publielectoral.lat/guardiansofhongkong/26187

The Students' Union called for a petition. As at 8pm on October 26, 2,100 signatures were collected from the University’s staff members, students and alumni.

Source: Stand News #Oct26

#Collusion #University #Academia

#Censorship #University #Academia
Now TV News Segment Removed Because News Chief “Personally Thinks it was Inappropriate”

A Now TV news segment was ordered to be removed by News Chief Bill Chan, claiming that he “personally thinks it was inappropriate”. The now-removed clip showed Ip Kin-yuen, a legislative councilor of the education sector expressing concerns about Max Shen, allegedly a Communist Party member, being nominated to be the vice-chancellor at the University of Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) issued a statement saying that the removal of news segments is rare, and it is concerning whether the NowTV is self-censoring since the news report touched upon the topic of Max Shen’s status as a Communist Party member.

HKJA urged NowTV Chan to further explain and clarify his measures on handling this news segment in order to allay any public concern.

Source: Stand News #Oct26

===
Also see

New #HKU Pro-Vice-Chancellor Candidate is Reportedly a Chinese Communist Party Member, Lawmaker Challenges Hiring of Mainland Chinese Scholars a Practice of Cronyism
https://publielectoral.lat/guardiansofhongkong/26187

#WhiteTerror #University
CityU bans any modifications of its anthem and emblem; Students' violations will stay on record till 7 years after graduation

The City University of Hong Kong (#CityU) has added a new clause banning any acts that may "tarnish the image and reputation of the university", including the unauthorized use, modification, damage and/or parody of the school anthem, emblem, and/or any element representative of the university.

Source: Apple Daily; Stand News #Nov2
https://bit.ly/382NdHV

#Education #FreeSpeech

#PoliceState #Censorship #WhiteTerror
Four Staff Associations in the Police Force demand University President to “take responsibility” on his “untrue” criticisms against police brutality"

It has almost been one year since the police siege of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (#CUHK). On Nov 6, 2020, the Police Force Council Staff Associations including the Hong Kong Superintendents' Association, Police Inspectors' Association, Overseas Inspectors' Association and Junior Police Officers' Association issued a letter to the president of CUHK Prof. Rocky Tuan.

In the letter, as the founder of Hong Kong Coalition, Tuan was criticised for violating “the ethos of a seeking truth as a professional”, and made “untrue claims” during the siege last year.

Ip Kin-yuen, a pro-democracy lawmaker for Education constituency, described the letter as flippant, frivolous and ironic. Also, he stated it was disrespectful that they addressed the letter to Tuan, a key person in Hong Kong’s academic and education sector.

In Ip’s opinion, Tuan’s open letter issued in Oct last year condemned police who were proven to use excessive violence against protestors. The letter was fair and unbiased, but not against the entire police force.

Source: Apple Daily #Nov6
https://hk.appledaily.com/local/20201106/TA3DLHNHDZA3PB27ET2AJWVREU/

#RockyTuan #CUHK #University #Education #CUHKSiege

#Patronizing #Education
#CarrieLam Claims #LiberalStudies "Problematic from Day One" and Blames #CriticalThinking

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam claimed that Liberal Studies was "problematic from day one". Lam also blamed that "critical thinking" was being taken as "saying no to everything".*

[*Editor's note: Liberal studies was a compulsory subject introduced in Hong Kong since 2009 by the first Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa whose adminstration included Carrie Lam as Secretary for Development.]

The authorities announced on Nov 25, 2020 a make-over of Liberal Studies in Hong Kong's schools. These include a new curriculum with an emphasis on China and the Basic Law; changing the grading system from a scoring system to a pass/fail assessment; and having the government vet all textbooks that would be used.

In a radio programme, Lam also blamed foreign media for "hurting the image of the SAR": "I don't think foreign media reports are objective and fair, especially those about Hong Kong."

Lam denied that the changes to Liberal Studies is a political move that overrides professionalism. She insisted that the subject has "always been causing controversies" in the past 10 years.

Source: RTHK; Apple Daily #Nov28

news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1562493-20201128.htm

https://hk.appledaily.com/local/20201128/ZZ56XDDSHVBWPLKCXYUY72NLV4/

#Education #FailedState
HK Governmentd Makes #LiberalStudies a Scapegoat for Social Discontent

Hong Kong's Education Bureau (#HKEB) announced on Nov 26, 2020 their plans to reform Liberal Studies, including changing the grading to a pass/fail system, and requiring student to join a study tour to China.

Former lawmaker of the education sector Ip Kin-yuen criticized the proposed curriculum reform for covering up government failures in handling the social discontent about the extradition bill and shifting blame onto Liberal Studies for making students "radical".

He added that the proposed change is apparently putting political consideration above educational professionalism, with a goal to weaken students' critical thinking by inserting politically correct elements.

Ip pointed out that the government also ignores the review report published by the Task Force on Review of School Curriculum in September 2020.

The Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung said that the unit "Hong Kong Today" in Liberal Studies is not for news discussion; whereas Ip stressed that Liberal Studies teaches news-relevant topics including personal development, society and globalization.

"There is no reason to ban the discussions of current affairs," Ip said. He described the government's plan as an act of setting up new limitations for education, and slammed the exclusion of news discussions.

Source: Stand News #Nov26

#IpKinYuen #YeungYunHung #HongKongToday #Curriculum #EducationBureau #Censorship #Brainwashing

#Education #BrainWash
Pro-Beijing School Allegedly Imposes Political Censorship, Forbidding Students to Wear Black or Yellow Masks

Wong Kam Fai Primary and Secondary School, affiliated with Hong Kong Baptist University, was suspected of imposing #PoliticalCensorship. Stand News was informed that the school's annual journal had blurred the background in some class pictures to obscure drawings of “Pepe”, a cartoon popular amongst pro-democracy protesters.

The school was also said to have banned students from wearing black or yellow masks. Students who broke the new rule would be given demerit points. The informant told Stand News that the new rules, already being enforced by the school, were only announced verbally during morning assembly, instead of via official written notices to parents.

Source: Stand News #Dec11
https://www.thestandnews.com/politics/王錦輝中小學年刊河蟹-pepe-壁報-禁戴黑-黃色口罩-規管學生校外及網上-不當行為/

#Censorship #FaceMask #FreeSpeech

#Banner on Hong Kong's Mountain Reads: "National Security Dog Devours the Blood of the Children"

A gigantic black banner that is approximately 30m long and 3m wide was sighted on Kowloon Peak, Hong Kong on the morning of Feb 6, 2021.

The words were written in white. The first part of the message is encoded with a homonym for "national security dog". The second part means "devour the blood of the children".

In the past few days, the Education Bureau of Hong Kong has announced plan to include "national security education" into the Liberal Studies subject. The Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung even blatantly said that with the reformed curriculum, the subject could be called "National Education".

Source: Apple Daily #Feb6

#KowloonPeak #NationalSecurityLaw #Children #Education #LiberalStudies #NationalEducation

#Education #University
#CUHK cuts ties with student union

The university issued an unprecedently strong statement in the evening, stating that "The Student Union Executive Committee members have made false allegations against the University and exploited the campus for their political propaganda, which ran counter to the mission of CUHK and brought the University into disrepute. "

A spokesman stressed the election platform of #Syzygia, which won the leadership election a day ago on February 24, 2021, does not represent the position of the university, reminding them that their comments on #NationalSecurity may be in violation of the law.

The university said it will also stop collecting student union fees on its behalf and require the student body to register as an independent society to assume its own legal responsibility. Members will also be suspended from their ex-officio positions in all university committees.

#Oppression

Source: Stand News, RTHK; #Feb25
https://bit.ly/3kn9oMY

#Education #AcademicFreedom
University of Chicago received complaint for inviting #NathanLaw to participate in school event and "hurting its Chinese students"

Source: Stand News #May24

Read more
⬇️⬇️
https://publielectoral.lat/guardiansofhongkong/29972

The course materials of "Citizens and Social Development" is revealed. A teacher is unsure about the interests from students as there is barely any interactions between teachers and students.

#CitizensandSocialDevelopment #Education #OneCountryTwoSystems #GoHKgraphics

#Sinicization
Hong Kong Government Requires All Schools to Hold Weekly Flag-Raising Ceremonies and Sing Chinese Anthem

The Hong Kong government's #EducationBureau on October 11, 2021 announced that all schools in Hong Kong must hold flag-raising ceremonies every week and on special occasions starting January 1, 2022.

The government's guidelines stated that the Chinese national anthem should be played and sung at the ceremonies.

Moreover, the Chinese national flag should be raised in school every day. If there are enough flagpoles, then the Hong Kong SAR flag should also be raised.

The government also "advised" kindergartens to carry out the instructions if facility allows, while international schools and private schools were "encouraged" to follow the guidelines.

Source: InMedia #Oct11
https://bit.ly/3Auwhob

#ChineseAnthem #ChineseFlag #FlagRaising #1C1S #Education #School #Nationalization #Brainwashing

#Brainwashing #Education
Universities in Hong Kong to Implement Courses on Modern China and National Security

Under the #NationalSecurityLaw (#NSL), educationsl institutions in Hong Kong were requested to implement national security education.

Universities like the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (#PolyU), the Hong Kong Baptist University (#HKBU), the Hong Kong Education University (#EdUHK) and the Hong Kong Lingnan University (#HKLU) have followed the government order.

Recently, the Chinese University of Hong Kong (#CUHK) has reportedly amended their core curriculum for the next academic year.

CUHK will open online courses on "Understanding China Today", and "National Security" starting from the next academic year. Each of them takes account to 1 credit.

CUHK confirms InMedia's enquiry and claimed that the new courses aimed to "strengthen students' knowledge [...] to understand national security". The courses were authorised by the University's academic council; however, no curriculum details have been revealed.

According to the documents InMedia received, the course titled "Understanding China Today" touched upon the modernization of China and technological development, in addition to Chinese culture and history. In addition to national security education, other online courses cover positive psychology and modern language. Each of the course takes account to 1 credit.

The University called it "Service Learning" and requires students to take at least one of thrse 1-credit courses.

CUHK replies to InMedia that the university would launcb national security education in accordance with Article 10 of the NSL. The university also said that they have already rolled out a number of policies and activities to "increase students' national belonging". Orientation activities include theme talks about national security and media literacy; courses contain a talk regarding "international circumstances and China's diplomacy"; graduates career workshops consist of #BasicLaw.

Source: Inmedia #Jan18
https://bit.ly/3nwAVhB

#Propaganda #Regime #University

#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

#UniversalValues #Education #Hopology
Hong Kong Parent Produces Children's Books to Teach Universal Values

In recent years, the socio-political environment in Hong Kong has deteriorated continuously , especially after the elimination of general studies and addition of national security education into Hong Kong's school curriculum.

Many parents came to realize the importance of teaching their children universal values and basic concepts such as society and justice, some of them introducing these ideas to their children even during the pre-school years.

Bonnie, a mother of two daughters, told reporters that she has always been telling bedtime stories to her daughters, and often pondered about what kind of stories are suitable for them. 

As democracy and freedom are being eroded in Hong Kong, she felt that she may not even be able to speak up on these topics in the future.

This led to her publishing a series of three children’s picture books on election, freedom, and justice, which is now available for sale at #Chickeeduck stores, as well as Bonnie's website "Hopology": 
https://shop.hopelab.co/product/bonnies-book/

"A good picture book should be useful for both adults and children.  It should be interesting for both," Bonnie said.

Different age groups may be interested in different aspects of the topic, she added, though picture books are made first and foremost for children. 

Questions at the end of the book also lead readers to reflect on the story, and to use their imagination to understand abstract ideas.

Bonnie began creating picture books in 2019, her first book aiming to explain the pandemic to her two daughters.  She subsequently released her work online as an illustrated e-book, thinking that "since I already told [the story] to two people, I might as well tell it to the world."  She was surprised at the overwhelming responses from readers; her books had even been adapted by some schools as teaching materials. 

This encouraged her to continue writing picture books, sharing with the world the stories she wrote to teach her daughters.

Sources: Commons HK, #Aug1
cmmns.co/XccyQ

Hopology Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/hopology.hk/posts/pfbid0tKXTNnS1SJ1RpgX91pDAuVYd2LcrMCWJKVUfG6x7yWw5LHD933iicXfFefbDTw5vl

#ChildrensBooks #UniversalValues #Education #Hopology

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