An educational task force on Tuesday recommended preventing discussion of current affairs in Hong Kong schools, as such topics were “beyond the comprehension of average secondary school students.”

The government-appointed task force also suggested sending textbooks for the subject of Liberal Studies to the Education Bureau for vetting, creating concerns that authorities might insert views in favor of the Carrie Lam administration and the wider pro-Beijing camp.

With the latest proposals, censorship in Hong Kong schools looks to be further tightened following a controversy triggered by the city’s education minister Kevin Yeung, who backed his bureau’s decision to remove references to the separation of powers governance model from school textbooks to be used in the current academic year.

The task force was designated by Lam as chief executive. It consulted the public for three months between late June and mid-October last year and, in its report published on Tuesday, recommended the bureau should conduct research to study the effectiveness of Liberal Studies, a compulsory secondary school subject alongside Chinese, English and Mathematics, and to abridge the Liberal Studies curriculum.

The report argued that, as recent social issues were still developing, they were not suitable for studying. “The objectivity and the reliability of certain pieces of information and data are oftentimes in doubt,” the task force said, referring to mass anti-government protests that erupted last year.

As of early August this year, the social unrest had resulted in the arrest of about 3,700 students, of whom 45% were studying in secondary schools.

The task force also called on schools to strengthen students' understanding of the nation and their respect for diverse opinions and the rule of law.

Liberal Studies has been under fire from pro-Beijing politicians and activists who want the subject to be revamped or altogether scrapped from the compulsory curriculum as, they say, it has become a tool to “brainwash” students.

Last year, former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa blamed the subject, which he had made compulsory under his administration, for “radicalizing” youngsters and described it as “the root cause of juvenile problems.”

Liberal Studies was introduced to secondary schools in 2009 as a core subject to nurture critical thinking and raise social awareness among students.

Tin Fong-chak, a Liberal Studies teacher and vice president of the pro-democracy Professional Teachers' Union, said that textbooks should not be vetted because it might provide the authorities with a chance to “handpick” and omit material, contradicting the significance of the subject.

Yeung said in response to the task force’s report that the bureau would study it closely and consider opinions from all sectors in society before making any changes to the curriculum.

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