Asia

Hong Kong leader vows education overhaul after protests

adminMay 11, 20201 Mins read114 Views

HONG KONG: Hong Kong's pro-Beijing leader on Monday (May 11) vowed to overhaul the city's education system, arguing its liberal studies curriculum helped fuel last year's violent protests.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam described the current secondary school programme as a "chicken coop without a roof" and said her government would soon unveil their plans.

"In terms of handling the subject of liberal studies in the future, we will definitely make things clear to the public within this year," she told the pro-government Ta Kung Pao newspaper in an interview published Monday (May 11).

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Her comments are likely to inflame those Hong Kongers who fear Beijing is chipping away at the freedoms that make the city a major international draw as political tensions rise once more.

With the backing of Beijing, Hong Kong's government is pushing ahead with a Bill that outlaws insulting China's national anthem and leading pro-establishment figures are lobbying for an anti-sedition law.

The government says new legislation is needed to curb snowballing support – especially among younger Hong Kongers – for democracy and greater autonomy from China.

Opponents say the laws will cut back on free speech and do little to heal the city's festering divides.

Hong Kong has some of Asia's best schools and universities with academic freedoms unseen in mainland China.

Liberal studies was introduced in 2009 as a way to foster critical thinking with schools allowed to choose how they teach it.

But it has become a bete noire for Chinese state media and pro-Beijing politicians who have called for more patriotic education.

In Monday's interview, Lam said she felt the classes allowed teachers to push their political biases and that greater oversight by the government was now needed.