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

Source: Stand News; Apple Daily #Nov28

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#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

Source: Stand News #Nov26

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#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
#CulturalRevolution #Education
More senior officials of HK Examinations and Assessment Authority resigned reportedly due to extreme political pressure

In May 2020, the history exam paper question from the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (#HKDSE) was harshly criticized by pro-Beijing figures. The question asked students to discuss whether Japan did more good than harm to China during the war years.

Soon after the PRC's Foreign Ministry condemned the question, calling it biased and off-limits, Hong Kong government's #EducationBureau pressured the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (#HKEAA), an independent organization, to strike out the question because it “seriously hurt feelings and dignity of the Chinese people who suffered great pain during the Japanese invasion of China”.

This incident was said to lead to resignation of Yeung Wing-yu, Manager of the Evaluation and Development Department of HKEAA and Secretary of the Committee on Subjects of the History Section in August 2020.

Before leaving the Authority, Yeung revealed to his colleagues that his resignation was due to extreme political pressure. He suspected that the series of seemingly coincidences were in fact vigilantly planned.

Yeung pointed out that the DSE question was leaked way before the examination day in May while the question’s marking scheme was leaked two months later in July. During this time, his social media account was being repeated hacked for at least twice.

After HKEAA’s decision to invalidate the question on Sino-Japanese relationship on 22 May, he personally covered up students’ answers to the question. Yeung considered the incident the biggest humiliation in his tenure in HKEAA.

Liberal studies is another subject furiously pounced by the SAR government. Lo Ka-yiu, Senior Manager of HKEAA responsible for Liberal Study was fluttered by pro-Beijing mouthpiece in Hong Kong for his pro-democracy opinion calling for the city’s Chief Executive to step down.

In May 2020, Lo and Leung Tsz-yin, a manager reported to him, both resigned. In September, two Liberal Studies teachers, Fan Si-kei and Lam Yi-mei, were appointed to replace Lo and Leung.

However, it was reported on December 5 that Lam Yi-mei resigned despite an extremely short tenure of less than three months.

Since May 2020, a number of senior officials of HKEAA has either resigned or their contracts not being renewed, including the Authority’s Secretary General, principal officer of Assessment Development, as well as Senior Manager and Manager responsible for Liberal Studies.

Most recently, HKEAA announced appointment of their new Secretary General Ngai Heung-tung, Professor of Economics of Lingnan University who again has profound Chinese background.

Source : Apple Daily; Citizens News #Dec1 #Dec5

https://hk.appledaily.com/local/20201201/76TJAJBXSZGAVKTMYQHGUFDCQI/

https://bit.ly/2Vluj7k

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Related articles:

Secondary School Students Organised Platform to initiate judicial review on the government's decision to cancel DSE history question
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/21383

Education Bureau criticizes HKDSE controversial question on History paper
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/20819

HK Education Chief Denies Charges of Turning Liberal Studies subject into pro-China National Education
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/27170

#Censorship #RuleOfLaw #Brainwash #PublicExam #CCPControl #LiberalStudies #Resignation #PoliticalPressure
#Authoritarianism #Oppression #Education #LiberalStudies
Pro-Beijing Academic Appointed to Review Liberal Studies in Hong Kong's Education System

Source: Stand News, #Jan21

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#Authoritarianism #Oppression #Education #LiberalStudies
Pro-Beijing Academic Appointed to Review Liberal Studies in Hong Kong's Education System

In November 2020, the Education Bureau in Hong Kong announced “reform” to high school Liberal Studies subject, stating that the new curriculum will be rolled out in September 2021.

The short-lived Committee dedicated to the Review of the Curriculum Development of Liberal Studies was formed in 2019, but was dissolved subsequently in December 2020, following its last committee meeting.

A new committee was soon established a month later and was renamed as “Curriculum Development Council - Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (Re-named Subjects) Committee”.

The 12-membered Committee was led by pro-Beijing academic Lau Chi-pang, who is the Associate Vice-Chancellor of Lingnan University.

Lau held many public offices. He is a member of the “Hong Kong Chronical Institute” of the Our Hong Kong Foundation and a council member of the National Hong Kong-Macau Research Council.

Under the new plan, the teaching of liberal studies in Hong Kong schools will be changed to include more content about mainland China and less on current affairs while students will also be taught about national security issues.

Liberal studies will still be a compulsory core subject but students will no longer have to conduct an associated project known as Independent Enquiry Study. Grading, on the other hand, will be changed to a pass/fail system.

Source: Stand News, #Jan21

#LingnanUniversity #LauChiPang #NationalEducation
#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
Liberal studies, one of the new senior secondary curriculum, has been implemented since 2000. But now, all previous Organisers rejected to comment on the Reformed Liberal Studies curriculum.

#LiberalStudies #NSScurriculum #NationalEducation #GoHKgraphics
#Education
New Citizenship Subject deems Britain's Rule over Hong Kong as Illegal Occupation

Citizenship and Social Development is slowly replacing Liberal Studies across Hong Kong’s schools, starting from next academic year.

Ling Kee Publishing provided schools with e-edition teaching materials. In the “One Country, Two Systems” Module, it states China always holds sovereignty over Hong Kong. “Over 100 years before the Handover, Britain’s rule over Hong Kong is an occupation breaching International law.

4 offences under the National Security Law is also included. “National Security Law ensures the continuity of the 'One Country, Two Systems' model.”

Marshall Cavendish Education also provided schools with sample textbooks, in which civil disobedience and Benny Tai’s “4 levels of rule of law” can be found. After its release, the Education Bureau immediately sent a notice stressing the book has not undergone official review.

On the contrary, after Ling Kee’s release, Education Bureau said as they did not consider the material a textbook. Its publication is under protection due to Hong Kong’s freedom of the press and does not require notification or review procedures from the Bureau. The EDB also states that material pertaining to China affairs and Hong Kong’s constitutional rule must be in compliance with the PRC Constitution and the Basic Law.

Source: Mingpao #May13
#LiberalStudies #BrainWashing #Censorship
"Politically corrected" textbooks in the New Hong Kong Era

6 publishing companies amended their #LiberalStudies textbooks after "inquiring" the #EducationBureau for comments in August 2020. Journalists discovered that some contents are removed, including #June4th, #CulturalRevolution, #MongKokCivilUnrest, #LocalConsciousness and #HongKongIndependenceClaims.

In November 2020, then-Secretary of Education, Kevin Yeung, announced to reform the Senior Secondary Liberal Studies (LS) syllabus. Course content was re-organised, and some were removed in order to grow students’ national identity with a mainland visit opportunity.

Less than a year later, the new subject “Citizenship and Social Development” replaced LS in school curricula. However, its textbooks were only approved in June 2022. Journalists discovered that the new books did not only modify a few photos or comics, but completely overthrew statements made in past textbooks. Notable changes include stating that Hong Kong was “not a #colony”, and the #AntiELAB movement was “an illegal incident that is violent and endangers national security”.

In the new era of Hong Kong, are the textbooks becoming "politically correct"? InMedia found #LiberalStudies textbooks published between 2014 and 2020, and compared them to the new #CitizenshipandSocialDevelopment textbooks.

Under the new syllabus, concepts including "#CivilDisobedience", "Separation of Powers", "4 levels of the Rule of Law" and "Multiple identities" are removed. Topics that took their place are #NationalSecurity, #NationalIdentity, and #NationalAchievement. The topic of Rule of Law no longer covered #RestrictionofLaw, #HumanRightProtection without affecting others’ rights, social order and national security.

Additional materials are taken mainly from official government sources, such as Information Service Department and blogs of government officials. Students are no longer required to discuss topics with controversial views. They only need to answer questions such as “Why does the National People's Congress interpreting the law not affect judiciary independence?”

Source: InMedia #Sep04

https://bit.ly/3wUtMww

See also:
Hong Kong Schools Schedule National Security Education Activities, Mainland Exchange Tours
https://t.me/BeWaterHK/1006

#NationalSecurityLaw #NationalEducation #RewritingHistory