National education goes well in schools
By Joseph Li (HK Edition)

Eighty-eight percent secondary school teachers in Hong Kong said their schools follow the practice of raising national flag and 66 percent said they teach students how to sing the national anthem, a survey found.

More than 60 percent teachers said they have flag-raising teams in their schools, and 61 percent said their schools will celebrate activities such as the national day and the reunification day, the survey revealed.

The teachers have a clear sense of recognition of the national identity and take pride in being Chinese. They are also interested in news concerning the mainland and Hong Kong.

The survey, conducted by local youth organization Hok Yau Club among 731 teachers from 114 schools, also showed that most teachers hoped the SAR government would take a more proactive role in promoting national education.

The survey also revealed that the students are willing to join internal or external national education activities but they do not show a lot of zeal.

As Chinese history is no longer a compulsory subject under the new university structure, teachers fear this might hinder the students' understanding of national affairs.

Summing up the findings, the club's vice-chairman Cliff Tang said the government, society and the schools should work together to explore the best way forward for national education development in Hong Kong.

The government should also play a more proactive role by providing more teaching resources and teachers' training programs.

To ensure effective promotion of national education, the government should encourage the schools to update their official and non-official curricula by including popular social issues to stimulate students' participation, he suggested.

(HK Edition 06/29/2007 page6)