Hong Kong’s leadership has enacted new principles and curricula for national security education that require teachers to discourage schoolchildren from protesting from the age of six. This is reported on the website of the Hong Kong administration, which also contains detailed instructions for schools.
Teachers will have to tell children that no discussion of national security issues is acceptable. All books that at least somehow express doubts about the validity of the law will be removed from educational institutions, and singing certain songs and shouting slogans is now prohibited.
Lessons should help students understand the history of the country, the importance of national security and the national anthem. They will be told about the punishment for interaction with foreign states, activities against the authorities and terrorism.
Older children will be told how the People’s Liberation Army of China defends Hong Kong, and this agenda will even be included in geography and biology lessons.
The teachers’ union criticized the initiative of the education department. Vice-president of the organization Ting Feng Chak said that this would destroy the relationship between teachers and teachers, and in addition, the instructions undermine the goal of forming critical and independent thinking in children, writes The Guardian.
Hong Kong returned to China in 1997. According to the joint declaration of China and Great Britain, the city was promised wide autonomy for 50 years. Mass protests in the city began in June 2019 over plans to pass an extradition law. The protests later escalated into clashes with police and mainland Chinese supporters.
That law was postponed indefinitely, but a year later, in June 2020, a national security law was passed, limiting the autonomy of the region and allowing the extradition of the most dangerous, according to Beijing, criminals. In the United States, it was regarded as a violation by mainland China of its obligations and imposed sanctions.