Selected 6 Textbooks for Fostering Patriotism and Civic Society Development, Expected to be Introduced This Fall Semester
Includes Hong Kong under One Country, Two Systems, China after Reform and Opening, and Interconnected Modern Society
[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] The Hong Kong education authorities have officially announced the certified textbook for the high school current affairs and general education subject ‘Gongmin Sahoe Baljeon (Civil Society Development)’. This announcement of the certified textbook is expected to mark the beginning of the Sinicization of Hong Kong.
According to Chinese media including the state-run Global Times on the 8th, the Hong Kong Education Bureau selected and announced six revised versions of the Gongmin Sahoe Baljeon textbooks from five publishers the day before.
Hong Kong introduced the Gongmin Sahoe Baljeon subject to schools at all levels starting from the fall semester last year, but there had been no officially designated textbook until now. Classes will be conducted using the designated textbook from this fall semester, and starting in 2024, it will also be applied to the Hong Kong Secondary Education Graduation Examination.
The textbook is reported to be composed of topics such as ‘Hong Kong under One Country, Two Systems’, ‘China after Reform and Opening-up’, and ‘Interconnected Modern Society’. It is presumed to describe the dark history of the late Qing Dynasty including the Opium Wars and Hong Kong’s British colonial period, the status of China which grew through reform and opening-up, and the One Country, Two Systems policy of mainland China that maintains and recognizes Hong Kong’s autonomy for 50 years after the 1997 handover.
Yang Lun-sung, Director of the Education Department of the Hong Kong Education Bureau, explained the background of the textbook designation by saying, “Patriotic education, positive thinking, and knowledge enhancement are necessary,” and “The educational goal is to enable students to understand their country’s history, culture, national identity, and development status.”
Tang Pei, a member of the Hong Kong and Macau Research Council who participated in the textbook verification process, said, “Incorrect content such as teachers’ personal political views will not be conveyed to students in frontline curricula,” and added that in the future, there will be no occurrences of government defamation or student agitation in classrooms.
China judged that patriotic education was necessary after large-scale protests erupted in Hong Kong following the 2019 extradition bill and the 2020 enactment and implementation of the National Security Law, and has been carrying out textbook revision and amendment work. Apart from the designated textbooks, it is also reported that a curriculum for Hong Kong students to participate in educational programs conducted in mainland China has been newly established.
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