Patriotic education on Chinese Communist Party and national security only small part of new Hong Kong humanities curriculum: course designer
- Choy Sai-hung, an architect of new humanities curriculum, says only about 10 per cent of course dedicated to national security and development of Communist Party
- Course, along with a new science subject, will replace general studies following push for greater focus on patriotic education
Patriotic education on the Chinese Communist Party and the national security law will make up only a small part of a new Hong Kong humanities curriculum for primary schools, one of the course’s designers has said.
Choy Sai-hung, the chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on Primary Humanities Curriculum, on Friday said new materials on national security and the development of the Communist Party would form about 10 per cent of the subject, with the rest remaining largely the same as the general studies course it was replacing.
“There is not much [new course material] added to humanities … we estimate about 90 per cent of the content will be based on general studies, with the part about China and the national security law taking up the rest,” Choy, whose committee falls under the Education Bureau, told a radio programme.
The new curriculum was first mentioned in Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s policy address last month. The bureau on Thursday offered further details on how it would replace general studies with two courses on humanities and science from the 2025-26 academic year.
The subjects will be split into six areas across as many years of primary school learning, with topics including Hong Kong’s place as an inalienable part of China, as well as covering the achievements and latest developments of the Communist Party.
Pupils in Primary Six will be required to learn quotes from Chinese President Xi Jinping, as well as understand the origins of the national security law and the city’s responsibility to safeguard against threats to the country.
The changes were in response to a patriotic education law passed last month by the nation’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, which laid out the content, goals, guiding principles and leadership mechanism for patriotic education.
