An elementary school teacher in Hong Kong was accused by the Education Bureau of planning to promote the message of Hong Kong independence through the content of a lesson plan, the registration of the teacher was cancelled and he can no longer work as a teacher for life, which is the harshest punishment.
A number of pro-democracy groups held a press conference on Wednesday to issue a joint statement condemning the unjustified punishment, which is tantamount to political persecution and criticism of the education sector, and has triggered white terror in the education sector. In what members of a teachers’ organization described as a “Hong Kong-style Cultural Revolution,” several student and teachers’ organizations launched a one-person, one-letter campaign to demand that the Education Bureau withdraw its decision to cancel the teacher’s registration.
A Hong Kong elementary school teacher arranged for students in his Life Education classroom to watch the RTHK’s current affairs program “The Clanging Episode” in March 2019, before the outbreak of the anti-sentinel campaign. The program, titled “The Untouchable Red Line,” aired in September 2018, discussed hot topics at the time, including the Hong Kong government’s first invocation of the Societies Ordinance to consider banning the operation of the “Hong Kong National Party,” which advocates Hong Kong’s independence.
The Education Bureau said there was a plan to spread the DQ on Hong Kong independence.
The teacher designed a set of lesson plans for the school’s fifth grade students to summarize the content of the program and the views of the interviewees, including what the students think is freedom of speech; according to the content of the video, what is the reason for Hong Kong’s independence?
According to informed sources, the lesson plan clearly states that the purpose of the teaching is to discuss freedom of speech, and also cites relevant provisions of the Basic Law, and the issue of Hong Kong’s independence in current affairs, in order to reflect on whether the freedom of speech in Hong Kong has been narrowed.
The Hong Kong Education Bureau announced on Monday (Oct. 5) that the teacher’s registration was cancelled at the end of September this year due to a complaint of “professional misconduct”, which is the harshest punishment.
The Education Bureau’s Permanent Secretary for Education, Mrs. Chan Siu Suk-fan, said at a press conference on Tuesday (Oct. 6) that the teachers’ lesson plans, teaching materials, and worksheets systematically disseminated information about Hong Kong independence, detailing the aims and political platforms of the Hong Kong National Party, which is classified by the Hong Kong government as an illegal organization, as well as talking about Tibetan independence, border independence, Taiwan independence, and secession issues in class.
The democratic camp issued a joint statement condemning the unreasonable punishment of the bureau.
Several pro-democracy groups and student and teacher organizations, including the Civil Society Development Resource Center, Education Wild, members of the Progressive Teachers’ Alliance, legislators Christopher Hui and Mao Mengjing, held a press conference on Wednesday (October 7) to issue a joint statement condemning the Bureau’s unjustified punishment of the teacher, which is tantamount to political persecution and criticism of the education sector, and has triggered white terror in the education sector. Several representatives of democratic groups chanted the protest slogan “Defend Educational Autonomy, Oppose Political Intervention”.
In a joint statement read out by Ou Zannian, a member of the Civil Society Development Resource Center, the Education Bureau said that the unilateral decision of disqualifying teachers from registering with the Education Bureau without listening to the defense of the teachers involved was an attempt to intimidate schools and teachers, and to challenge the non-transparent decision-making process of the Education Bureau. The statement also criticized the Hong Kong government’s excessive involvement in education matters, which is a break with convention, disrespect for teachers and a serious misjudgment of teachers’ professional competence.
If a teacher is pushing a certain agenda by letting students learn about the so-called historical issues of Hong Kong, this is a far-fetched argument, and it is also a view imposed by the government on the teacher or the school,” Ouzhanian said. We believe that the Hong Kong government should not use national security as an excuse to restrict the freedom of teaching and expression, nor should it use this as a reason to punish teachers and schools. We emphasize that as a responsible representative of the education sector, especially the Education Bureau, which is using politics to suppress freedom of education, it should get back on track, that is, to respect human rights and freedom of education in order to foster a pluralistic environment and ensure that students can participate in public discussions. We regret that the normal learning of students and the normal teaching of teachers have been distorted in this way. We call on the government to return to professionalism and autonomy in education, and hope that the public will support our excellent educators in all aspects.
Teachers’ organization criticizes “Hong Kong-style Cultural Revolution”
The Education Bureau has been criticized for setting a clear red line in the selection of teaching materials for teachers, as if it is a knife over teachers’ heads,” said Ms. Melissa Ng, a member of the Progressive Teachers Alliance, at a press conference.
The Education Bureau’s decision to cancel the registration of an elementary school teacher because of a plan to promote the message of Hong Kong independence is a case of politics overriding everything else, said Melissa Wu, a member of the Progressive Teachers’ Alliance, describing it as a “Hong Kong-style Cultural Revolution. (Voice of America/Tang Hui-wan)
The Education Bureau’s decision to cancel the registration of an elementary school teacher because of a plan to promote the message of Hong Kong independence is a case of politics taking precedence over everything else, said Melissa Wu, a member of the Progressive Teachers Alliance, describing it as “a Hong Kong-style Cultural Revolution. (Voice of America/Tony Tong)
Wu Meilan said: “The original selection of material above, there has been a very clear red line, the whole knife down like, whether or not all of the selection of material are to sing the praises of our motherland (China), praise our (Chinese) leaders, is some appropriate selection of material?
She said that the school investigated the incident and made a report, which was confirmed by the school board that the teacher did not advocate Hong Kong independence, and that the report was representative.
Intimidation and constraint to other teachers
She criticized the EDB for bypassing the usual procedures such as suspension and investigation, which is unfair to the teachers involved and intimidating and restrictive to other teachers.
She criticized the Education Bureau for bypassing the usual process of suspension and investigation, which is unfair to the teachers involved and intimidating to other teachers. I implore my colleagues who are still serving in the education sector, this incident proves that many of our colleagues who are now working in the education sector, a lot of constraints, or in fact, a threat to make all of you not to speak out, it is better to (yes)! All principals and vice-principals as ‘thugs’, in fact, the best schools have also occurred, schools are teachers to report teachers, there are many things the media may not know for the time being, these are not the Cultural Revolution-style criticism of what?
Student Organization Goes After Teachers for Political Reasons
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In fact, the Education Bureau is pursuing the teacher for political reasons, asking him to submit the so-called certificates and so on and so forth, but in the end, it wants to revoke his license and deprive him of his teaching qualification for life. The teacher is permanently removed from the education sector, and another point is, you see this time the Education Bureau not only punished the teacher who made the lesson plan, even the teacher who taught, the principal who supported the teacher, the vice principal are all punished by the Education Bureau, ask a campus like this, how to give students a peaceful learning environment?
The Education Bureau’s decision to restrict teachers from using television news features as lesson plans and teaching materials to discuss freedom of expression, and even to use this as a justification for punishing teachers, is inappropriate in comparison to criminal and indecency cases, according to Cheng Kar-Lang.
The spokesman of the student organization Education for All said that several student and teacher organizations have launched a one-person, one-letter campaign to demand that the Education Bureau withdraw its decision to deregister teachers. (Voice of America/Tang Huiyun)
Student Organization Education spokeswoman Cheng Kar-Long says several student and teacher organizations have launched a one-person, one-letter campaign to demand that the Education Bureau withdraw its decision to cancel teacher registration. (Voice of America / Huiyun Tang)
Zheng Jiarang said: “In this incident, the news (TV program) was used to teach students the value of freedom of speech, but it was even compared to the sex crimes.
Initiate a one-person letter asking the Board to withdraw the DQ faculty decision
The government’s request to release the information of teachers who have been accused of professional misconduct is tantamount to a “public murder” of the teachers, which is aimed at killing all job opportunities for the teachers concerned.
I hope that the Education Bureau will really listen to the students’ opinions, so that the educational environment will not become a political tug-of-war, and that the students will really have the right to learn,” Zheng said. The right to have a good teacher, in fact, you know, I know, the Education Bureau knows, this incident is a political red line invasion of the campus, so I hope the Education Bureau does not use this political red line to continue to violate the campus, continue to violate every student.”
He called on teachers, parents, and students to participate in protecting the right to freedom of speech of the teaching profession and students, and details will be announced later.
District Councillors question the Republic of China as a red line for teachers
In a press conference, Tai Po District Councilor Ren Qibang of the New Alliance showed a textbook on general knowledge for the second grade of elementary school, in which it was mentioned that after the overthrow of the Manchu Empire in 1911, there was no mention of the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC), and immediately jumped to the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949.
When our children ask what regime or what government governed China from 1911, after the overthrow of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, to 1949, will they have the courage to tell us later that the Republic of China was established in 1911? Today’s red line is interfering with academic freedom and interfering with teachers’ access to materials.”
Ye Jianyuan criticized the incident causing teachers to self-censor
The Education Bureau (EDB) used the “capital punishment” of revoking a teacher’s registration without any warning, he said, adding that the EDB only judged the teacher’s professional misconduct based on the lesson plan, and did not even allow the teacher to explain to the EDB face-to-face.
He said that he was not satisfied with the results of the study, and that he was not satisfied with the results.
This kind of panic will lead to self-censorship, which will greatly reduce the vitality of our teaching. Because we don’t know what we can and can’t talk about, this is a very serious issue.”
In July this year, he sought the assistance of the HKPTU, which will help him appeal the decision to the Appeal Board. HKPTU also launched a crowdfunding campaign to cheer up the DQ (de-registered) teacher, and to support his legal and living expenses.
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