Hong Kong to rename secondary subject Liberal Studies

HONG KONG -- The Education Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government Thursday announced the optimizing measures of four senior secondary core subjects, in which Liberal Studies will be renamed as Citizenship and Social Development.

Hong Kong's Curriculum Development Council and the Public Examinations Board of the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority endorsed on Wednesday the proposals to optimize the four senior secondary core subjects, namely Chinese Language, English Language, Mathematics and Liberal Studies, and made recommendations to the bureau.

According to the proposals, Liberal Studies will be renamed and the core content of the curriculum will cover three themes: Hong Kong, the nation and the contemporary world. While the subject would remain compulsory for public assessment, the school-based assessment component would be removed. Students would be provided with mainland study opportunities.

The bureau accepted the proposals on Thursday and issued a circular memorandum to schools to provide details about the implementation of the optimizing measures of the respective subjects at Secondary Four in the 2021/22 school year.

The bureau announced last November that the HKSAR government has decided to streamline the curriculum content of Liberal Studies and optimize the subject's teaching materials and examination arrangements. The optimized curriculum will focus on nurturing students' positive values and attitudes, and national identity.