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HONG KONG: A Hong Kong teacher was fired for allegedly promoting the city’s independence in class, in what the government on Tuesday (October 6) hailed as a coup against the “black sheep” who work in the education system.
The decision marks the first time that the Hong Kong Bureau of Education has eliminated a teaching license due to lesson content, and it comes as the crackdown on democracy supporters in the city accelerates.
“Our work has to continue to get the black sheep out of the field of education,” Executive Director Carrie Lam told reporters.
“If there is a very small fraction of teachers who are using their teaching responsibilities to convey the wrong messages to promote misunderstandings about the nation, to smear the country and the Hong Kong government, baseless, then that becomes a very serious matter.” .
READ: Is democracy in Hong Kong weakening forever?
The Education Office said the primary school teacher, who was not named, was expelled for “deliberately spreading messages in favor of independence.”
“You can clearly see that Hong Kong’s independence is the subject of the lesson,” Deputy Secretary Chan Siu Suk-fan told a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
Chan said the teacher’s lesson plan and materials for the fifth-grade students, who are around 10 years old, involved a discussion about a banned political party defending Hong Kong’s independence and also addressed issues related to independence. from Tibet, Xinjiang and Taiwan.
READ: Hong Kong schools should not provide material against the new law, says government
Education has become a key target for the Hong Kong administration after months of huge and sometimes violent demonstrations last year.
Many young people participated in the protests, which called for police responsibility and greater autonomy for the city.
China’s central government imposed a comprehensive security law in Hong Kong in June, banning public calls for independence and other allegedly subversive political views, with a maximum penalty of life in prison.
READ: Hong Kong publishers self-censor under new security law
Schools and public libraries soon removed books deemed illegal under the new law.
Beijing has also called for a more patriotic education, while the Lam administration is looking to revise parts of the curriculum that it believes are fueling discontent toward China.
Critics say the measures undermine Hong Kong’s reputation for academic freedom and excellence, fearing that the heavily censored education system in use on the authoritarian mainland could take over the city.
Education Minister Kevin Yeung said he would not transfer the case to the national security office because the infraction occurred before the new law took effect.
