Scant Room For Classroom Debate After Death of Hong Kong's Liberal Studies: Teachers

Three weeks after the start of the new semester, teachers of the new "civic and social development" curriculum that replaced Liberal Studies in Hong Kong's schools say there is scant freedom for classroom debate. Teachers delivering the new Values Education (Moral, Civic and National Education) curriculum said they were confused over which teaching materials to use, but were less likely to confer with colleagues amid a growing culture of informing on teachers for having the wrong political opinions in schools.

They said the teaching materials are structured so as to ensure there is little room for free discussion and debate among students and teachers in the classroom. In stark contrast to the Liberal Studies curriculum that was abolished this year, no contemporary news reports are used as examples to illustrate the points being made, they said.

Instead, students were asked to memorize by rote sections of the draconian national security law that was imposed on Hong Kong by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from July 1, 2020, ushering in a citywide crackdown on political opposition and peaceful dissent.

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