Letters | How Hong Kong Education Bureau can do more to halt discussion of independence in schools
- Bringing the subject into the classroom – even to point out that separating Hong Kong from China is not feasible – is best avoided
- The Education Bureau must make monitoring and scrutinising schools its primary responsibility to avoid students being brainwashed by their teachers
Mr Yeung also said that if independence were to be addressed at all, it should be to point out that “it is infeasible for Hong Kong to be separated from China”. I think the topic should not even be brought into the classroom.
The reason is clear – there is still the chance that some students might not agree, and the ensuing discussion might end up with arguments being made in favour of independence.
When I was a student in Hong Kong decades ago, my teachers never talked about committing radical political acts against our government; neither did I nor my colleagues – or at least not openly – when I was teaching at high schools or universities.
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Student protesters hunker down at Hong Kong campuses in anticipation of clashes with police
Principals and teachers should avoid taking a political stance, at least in class, and focus on conveying their knowledge of their subject. The Education Bureau must also make monitoring and scrutinising schools its primary responsibility. It should put “no brainwashing of pupils” at the top of its many objectives.
Randy Lee, Ma On Shan
