Teachers urged to stick to facts on HK governance system

HONG KONG - Hong Kong education experts on Tuesday urged teachers to uphold their professionalism and stick to the facts following official clarifications of the city's executive-led political system.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor pledged on Tuesday that serious efforts will be made to strengthen education on the Basic Law and the National Security Law on campuses to dispel any misunderstanding of the special administrative region's governing system.

Two central government agencies overseeing Hong Kong affairs reiterated on Monday that the SAR's constitutional document puts the chief executive at the core of the governance system, instead of one of "separation of powers".

Ho Hon-kuen, chairman of local teachers' alliance Education Convergence, said the SAR government is acting in the best interests of students. He said Hong Kong never had "separation of powers", and it's misleading to insert the phrase in textbooks.

Wong Kwan-yu, chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers, agreed, saying the Basic Law clearly stipulates that Hong Kong has an executive-led political system, and it's most appropriate for teaching material to be consistent with the Basic Law.

He said it's biased and inaccurate to generalize the checks and balances among the three branches of government as a "separation of powers". Now that central government officials and the local administration have clarified the matter, teachers and textbook publishers should amend their mistakes and teach students what's right.

Ho welcomed quality assurance measures conducted by the authorities, such as the launch of professional consultancy services for textbooks on liberal studies, but he believes that more could be done.

He called for guidelines for various subjects, such as Chinese history and moral, civic and national education, to be issued, stating clearly the fallacies in the textbooks.

The Education Bureau should also ensure the quality of teachers in classrooms, Ho said. School principals should clearly outline teachers' professional code of ethics so that they have clear guidelines to follow, he added.

Lawmaker and Basic Law Committee member Priscilla Leung Mei-fun said civil servants also need to have a better understanding of the Basic Law.

She said if public servants can grasp its provisions concerning the constitutional relationship between the central authorities and the SAR, they would have no trouble understanding that Hong Kong does not have "separation of powers".