Hong Kong teachers accused of lack of knowledge on national security education: reports

The report on C.P.C. Yao Dao Primary School in Tin Shui Wai said middle management’s grasp of national security education was patchy and only a few subjects had elements of the subject included.

“Schools must strengthen middle management’s understanding of national security education so they can review the curriculum plan of each subject and select appropriate topics to ‘naturally connect’ the subject [national security education],” it said.

The claims came in the third group of Education Bureau review reports on schools released on Thursday, involving 44 schools.

The review of S.K.H. Holy Cross Primary School in Kowloon City said the teaching of national security topics was not in-depth enough and said the school should improve teachers’ understanding of the subject in a bid to foster pupil awareness of the need to safeguard national security.

Authorities said neither of the schools made best use of the planning calendar to boost pupils’ knowledge.

“Those activities allow students to reflect on their contributions to society and the country,” the bureau added.

The first reports were released in May and the second group in June, each in reference to 10 schools.

One of the authorities’ objectives is to increase pupils’ knowledge of the most recent national developments and the need to safeguard national security, as well as foster patriotic feeling towards China in the wake of the 2019 social unrest.

Schools from 2021 were asked to follow the annual calendars drawn up by education authorities.

The calendar for the next school year has 27 important days and occasions earmarked so schools can plan events around them.

Hong Kong And Macau Lutheran Church Ming Tao Primary School, in Tseung Kwan O, was also criticised.

The report on the school said teachers generally had an insufficient grasp of the national security topic and that they should increase their knowledge to boost effectiveness.

“During lessons, teachers have not yet naturally connected the learning content [with the national education elements] and the relevant campus atmosphere has yet to be created,” the report added.

Secondary schools also came in for criticism.

The CNEC Lau Wing Sang Secondary School report said teachers had to learn how to implement national security education from the perspectives of “knowledge, emotion and action”.

Officials said the Chai Wan school should learn from counterparts who had successful experience.

The bureau told Henrietta Secondary School in North Point that it had to plan how to connect national security education elements to selected subjects to help teachers.

The Mission Covenant Church Holm Glad College in Kwun Tong also came under attack in its report.

The bureau said only a few subjects contained strands of national security education and the school was also advised to follow the event calendar.

But the reports considered more than national security teaching failures, with an elite Catholic school criticised for problems in other areas.

Holy Angels Canossian School in Hung Hom, known for academic excellence, was slammed for its poor coordination with preschools, as well as with St. Mary’s Canossian College in Tsim Sha Tsui, its associated secondary school.

“The school’s assessment policy and activity arrangements in non-school days cannot meet the abilities and needs of students,” the report added.

“It must be reviewed as soon as possible to create space for students to help them lay a solid foundation of whole-person development.”

The school was also told by the education authorities that it had to make use of its diversified learning and teaching strategy.

“It included designing challenging tasks and questions to give students more opportunities to exchange and discuss,” the report said.

The school had not uploaded the full report to its website by Friday afternoon.

The reviews are part of the schools’ development and accountability framework introduced by the bureau in the 2003-04 academic year.

An enhanced programme was launched after the 2022 policy address to increase the accountability of teaching staff in publicly funded schools in the provision of quality schooling and national security education.

Schools were also required to release their full reports to key stakeholders and encouraged to upload the documents online.

The reviews were carried out by analysis of information submitted by schools, observation of classes and other school activities, as well as discussions with management, teachers, parents and pupils.