Details on the Liberal Studies reform, which has been a subject of attention, were finally unveiled the other day. Under a new curriculum framework proposed by the CDC-HKEAA Committee on the Renamed Subject, the six modules under the existing syllabus, namely, Hong Kong Today, Modern China, Globalization, Public Health, Energy and Technology, and the Environment, will be trimmed to three, namely Hong Kong under “One Country, Two Systems”, Our Country since Reform and Opening-up, and Interconnectedness and Interdependence of the Contemporary World. Each module will account for 45 to 50 teaching hours. In other words, more than two-thirds of class hours will be related to China. Committee chairman Lau Chi-pang is all for incorporating the subject in national education, saying that is an international norm. He has criticized Hong Kong people for being ignorant and lacking a broad international perspective. “Even in the US, a country that Hongkongers admire most, one starts learning about national identity and national security at kindergarten.”

But first and foremost, don’t compare national education in Hong Kong with that in democracies, because that would be tantamount to high-level belittling of the Chinese model. Under the Chinese model, the Hong Kong kind of national education is known as “political education” or “party education”, not “national education” nor “civic education.” In the past, the Kuomintang, the German Nazi Party, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) all had implemented party education. The Kuomintang, the German Nazi Party and the Soviet Communist Party were more powerful than the state, and so is the CCP today, hence the name “party education”, a practice whereby it is a political party that defines the concept of people of a country, and decides on the meaning of constitution, culture and history and from what political perspective these elements should be interpreted. Party education is characterized by its exclusive and compulsory nature. It is exclusive in that there is no room for discussion. When teachers teach the “one country, two systems” module, can they discuss with students issues related to the implementation of the Chinese Constitution in the mainland? Can they talk about how the “one country, two systems” arrangement has been damaged by the National People’s Congress (NPC) interpretations of the Basic Law? They cannot, and because of that, they can only teach according to textbooks. There is only one set of officially recognized standard answers for teachers and students. This is political indoctrination. In democratic countries, there is indeed national education, but it is not a closed system. Rather, teachers and students can discuss their country’s constitution, history, and national identity. As for the compulsory nature of Hong Kong’s national education, it involves using exams to achieve the goal of political indoctrination.

In 2012, the government tried to introduce a national education curriculum but eventually withdrew the plan after it triggered mass protests and was met with staunch opposition from students. But since then, the authorities have been setting its sight on Liberal Studies. Now it is taking the opportunity to abolish the curriculum and turn it into party political education. The next step is possibly to launch a large-scale criticism campaign, picking on Liberal Studies teachers who do not meet the new political demands. The three new modules are full of landmines that teachers can easily step on and get reported or criticized. A handful of teachers can be chosen as the scapegoats. Then the authorities may claim there is a lack of teachers in Hong Kong who fit the bill and so there would be a legitimate reason to hire some “special teachers” who would monitor students and teachers, inspect their political ideas, political positions and behaviors, and see if they chant any slogans or spread reactionary messages. These teachers might receive instructions from the national education committee. In the past, the Kuomintang had military training officers posted to schools in Taiwan. During the martial law era, these officers monitored all political activities at schools apart from providing national security-related training. After Taiwan became a democracy, the training officers’ role changed, but still there were controversies, with people calling for the officers to leave school campuses.

Recently, Hong Kong’s ranking on the Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual democracy index for 2020 was downgraded from “flawed democracy” to “hybrid regime”, bringing it more or less on a par with Bangladesh and Burma. Hybrid regimes are authoritarian in nature but have the veneer of democracy by way of elections. Authoritarian regimes need the support of political education, which goes beyond state security education. Many members of the NPC, members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, elites of the pro-establishment camp, Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung and senior civil servants have all sent their children to international schools in Hong Kong or schools in the UK, the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand which teach them democracy, freedom, openness, and inclusiveness. So will middle-class parents want to stay in Hong Kong to enjoy the political education designed by Secretary Yeung?

The collapse of the education system is the real reason why middle-class families in Hong Kong are leaving the city. It has nothing to do with the polarization of society.

(Lau Sai-leung, political commentator)

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