Education Secretary Eddie Ng Hak-kim said on Sunday that he hoped that the upcoming curriculum revision could be viewed from a “professional perspective.” He was asked whether curriculum changes would give way to promoting patriotic education, as the revision proposal stated that it was to “strengthen the sense of belonging to society and to the country.”
A section for Hong Kong history is to be added to the history curriculum in secondary schools for the first time. A consultation on the matter began last Thursday and will last for a month. Concerns were raised about controversial events, such as the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre, not being added into the consultation draft, but Ng said that details will be added in later phases.
Ng told local media at the airport that, although students may wish to know about modern historical developments, they cannot currently learn about them as they are not included. He added that, currently, the entire course is too focused on political matters and the rise and fall of dynasties.
He said that one cannot simply focus on politics and that there should be attention paid to cultural and social history, saying that “other territories and countries also do it this way, so I hope that this revision change can be viewed from a professional perspective, letting teachers lead the way in this regard.”
A teacher who attended the Education Bureau’s consultation briefing last Thursday said that the revisions had a tendency to praise the unification and cohesion of China, and only mentioned briefly the history of China’s insurrections and the country’s downfall, according to Ming Pao.
