No separate sections on Hong Kong for new history curriculum, education authority says

A new curriculum framework for teaching Chinese history at Hong Kong secondary schools was announced on Thursday – with no separate sections on the city’s past.

As reported on previous consultation drafts of the framework, there would also be no mention of contentious issues such as the June 4 protests or the 1967 riots.

The Education Bureau said the revised curriculum guidelines for Chinese history at junior secondary levels would be implemented progressively in Form One, starting from September 2020 at the earliest.

Josephine Lee Shuk-yin, senior curriculum development officer for personal, social and humanities education at the bureau, said one change from previous drafts was subsuming elements of Hong Kong’s development and cultural characteristics into nine topics of broader historical periods.

In previous drafts, Hong Kong’s history had its own designated subsections to help students understand the city’s connection with the country.