Patriotic education on Chinese Communist Party and national security only small part of new Hong Kong humanities curriculum, course designer says

Patriotic education on the Chinese Communist Party and the national security law will make up only a small part of a new Hong Kong humanities curriculum for primary schools, one of the architects of the course has said.

Choy Sai-hung, the chairman of the ad hoc committee on the primary humanities curriculum, on Friday said new materials on national security and the development of the Communist Party would form about 10 per cent of the subject, with the rest remaining largely the same as the general studies course it was replacing.

“There is not much [new course material] added to humanities … we estimate about 90 per cent of the content will be based on general studies, with the part about China and the national security law taking up the rest,” Choy, whose committee is under the Education Bureau, told a radio programme.

The new curriculum, first mentioned in Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s policy address last month and explained further by the bureau on Thursday, will replace general studies with two courses on humanities and science from the 2025-26 academic year.

The subjects will be split into six areas across as many years of primary school learning, with topics including Hong Kong’s place as an inalienable part of China and the achievements and latest developments of the Communist Party.

Pupils in Primary Six will be required to learn quotes from President Xi Jinping, understand the origins of the national security law and the city’s responsibility to safeguard against threats to the country.

The changes were in response to a patriotic education law passed last month by the nation’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, which masterminded the content, goals, guiding principles and leadership mechanism for patriotic education.

Choy Sai-hung (second from right), the chairman of the ad hoc committee on the primary humanities curriculum, at a press conference on Thursday. He says exams for the course will not require pupils to do recitals or dictation. Photo: Jonathan Wong

The general studies subject was launched in 1996, taking up five slots a week in the primary school curriculum.

Choy, also a principal of CCC Heep Woh Primary School (Cheung Sha Wan), said there would be three weekly slots for humanities and three for the new science courses, with more experiments added to the lessons.

He said schools would need to find space for the one additional spot in their timetable, but “flexibility” was allowed for institutions to decide what sessions or lessons should be taken out.

Schools could shorten the time allocated for tutorial sessions and keep “essential” lessons such as religion studies or mandarin, he suggested as an example.

Choy said the humanities exams would not require pupils to perform recitals or dictation, with assessment to be conducted using an “interactive” teaching model that encouraged students to take initiative to discuss and explore.

The bureau’s chief curriculum development officer Paul Lee Kin-wan on Thursday said the course aimed to “nurture students with a sense of country, affection for the Chinese people and a sense of national identity”.

Lee said sex education, financial affairs, economics and green living would also be included in the curriculum.