Hong Kong teachers should report ‘problematic’ study materials to superiors, education minister says

Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung also says school authorities should be held accountable over any failure in gatekeeping duties

The Education Bureau has a ‘responsibility to safeguard the quality’ of the city’s teachers, he adds

2-MIN READ2-MIN

A teacher at Alliance Primary School in Kowloon Tong was delisted by the Education Bureau last month over preparing ‘problematic’ study materials. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 5:01pm, 11 Nov 2020Updated: 11:42pm, 11 Nov 2020

Hong Kong teachers have a responsibility to report “problematic” study materials to superiors, and school authorities should be held accountable over any failure in gatekeeping duties, according to the city’s education minister.

Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung was responding to opposition lawmaker and Professional Teachers’ Union (PTU) vice-president Ip Kin-yuen’s question on whether his bureau’s decision to penalise five colleagues of a teacher – deregistered over class materials that touched on Hong Kong independence in September – was a form of “collective punishment”, and whether it would apply to others.

The teacher from Alliance Primary School in Kowloon Tong was the first educator to be deregistered by the Education Bureau since anti-government protests erupted in the city in June last year. He was accused of drafting biased, twisted and pro-independence study materials.

Three of his colleagues who taught the content in class were given warning letters, while the former principal and vice-principal of the school were reprimanded for lax supervision.

“If teachers receive problematic teaching materials, they should report the matter to their supervisors so amendments could be made,” Yeung said. “If they stay silent, they should be held responsible.”