A section for Hong Kong history will be added to the history curriculum in secondary schools for the first time. A consultation for the revision of the curriculum began on Thursday and will last for a month.
Secretary for Education Eddie Ng Hak-kim said “the addition would allow students to understand Hong Kong’s significance in the historical development of China as a whole, and would increase students’ sense of belonging towards China and in society.”
Ng also said that the previous curriculum was too focused on political history, and that the addition of cultural and societal history could liven up the history curriculum.
The Sing Tao newspaper cited a teacher who participated in a focus group as saying that the section for modern history has yet to be finalised and that events such as the 1967 riots and the Tiananmen massacre may not be detailed in the first consultation draft.
When asked if the two historical events would be included, Ng said that the current phase of consultation only concerns the general direction, and particulars will be included in the following phases, RTHK reported.
The Tiananmen massacre occurred on June 4, 1989, ending months of student-led demonstrations in China. It is estimated that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people died when the People’s Liberation Army was deployed to crackdown on protesters in Beijing.
The 1967 riots refers to large-scale unrest between leftists and the British establishment in Hong Kong. What began as a minor labour dispute escalated into several months of protests, violence, bombings and murders.
