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Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam defends liberal studies reform, saying the issue was not intended to be a debate exercise on current affairs.
Executive Director Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Saturday dismissed suggestions that reforming the liberal studies subject in high schools was political, saying that misguided critical thinking advocating opposing everything related to government should be corrected. programs, the Hong Kong leader said the government did not intend to drop the issue entirely, but wanted to make adjustments to correct what she called “deviations” from some educational principles. [the reform of liberal studies] it has no political purpose, but it starts from issues of educational principles, ”he said. “We are not killing the subject. We are just looking to make some adjustments to their curriculum. ” Get the latest insights and analysis from our global impact newsletter on great stories originating from China. Education Secretary Kevin Yeung Yun-hung announced on Thursday radical changes to the compulsory subject, which is taught in secondary schools as part of the university entrance exam. The new measure is expected to be implemented more delay next academic year for all Secondary Four students As part of the reforms, the subject will be renamed and students will have to go on a study trip to China as part of the curriculum. The course would also be marked as a simple pass or fail, with parts of the syllabus cut out and all textbooks subject to vetting. On Wednesday, Lam also highlighted the need to reform liberal studies, saying the topic had strayed from its original purpose and should teach students about China’s development, the constitution, and the rule of law. Will Hong Kong’s revival of Liberal Studies end critical thinking among students? On Saturday, he also denied that the review was to overturn educational professionalism with political considerations. “From day one since it was introduced 10 years ago, it has sparked incessant controversy.” Lam said that in recent years there have been growing calls to reform the issue, especially during last year’s civil unrest, when many students and even teachers had participated in illegal protests against the government. “Many people have raised doubts about what has happened. it went wrong with Hong Kong education, so we have to look into it, ”he said. The executive director noted that the lack of textbooks and guidelines for the course, and the reliance on materials developed by teachers, had not helped students develop critical thinking. “But critical thinking has now become a kind of debate exercise on current issues, so students are easily influenced by some specific social opinion,” he said. said. Schools were asked to do more to promote national identity among students “Critical thinking in the curriculum has strayed and opposed everything related to Basic Law and the government. I don’t think this is critical thinking. To achieve critical thinking, students must first discern the facts, for example, Hong Kong is an inseparable part of China. Former CEO Tung Chee-hwa, now vice chairman of China’s top political advisory body, called the issue, which started during his administration, a failure last year, and blamed it for escalating violence among young people. They have raised concerns about the latest changes, arguing that abolishing the grading system could weaken incentives for students to learn. for eight student concern groups that urged the government to withdraw the reform, they collected at least 7,000 signatures, of which more than half were high school students, as of Saturday night.[The revamp] it is practically a resurrection of the national education subject, ”the petition said. But the Hong Kong Academy of School Directors said it supported the proposed reform of the subject, but suggested adding the degree of distinction to encourage students to study hard. it was alert to the possible return of anti-government protests despite the introduction of the national security law in late June. “Some people said that the national security law had restored the stability of the society and the violent protests had been quelled. But some also suggested that social unrest was lurking due to social distancing measures, “he said.” I am afraid that if there is any controversy over Beijing, those protests will return. That is why I have been on guard against any protest movement ”. In his political speech, Lam also highlighted the exercise of police discretion to release offenders under the age of 18 with a warning or binding orders on condition that they admit their wrongdoing. This article, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam, defends liberal studies reform and says the topic was not intended to be a debate exercise on current affairs first appeared on the South China Morning Post For the latest South China Morning Post news, download our mobile app. Copyright 2020.
