PATRIOTIC CLASSROOMS
China is remoulding once outspoken Hong Kong in its own authoritarian image, following enormous and sometimes chaotic democracy protests in 2019 in which young people played a key component.
Teachers have got since been ordered to instil patriotism in students and comply with a Beijing-imposed national security legislation that has criminalised much dissent.
Classes are being tweaked in order to align more closely with Chinese Communist Party ideology.
Earlier this month, teachers were told to “study and find out the key messages” of the recent speech simply by President Xi Jinping.
Students plus parents have also been prompted to report teachers who might be breaching the security law.
Wong received a letter of reprimand from Hong Kong’s Education Bureau this past year after his training materials analysing the pros and cons of civil disobedience drew anonymous complaints.
“It shattered the particular trust that was essential to teaching, ” he recalled.
Between 2019 and 2021, Hong Kong government bodies received 344 complaints against teachers pertaining to the democracy protests, with 55 % of cases found to be substantiated.
One high school principal told AFP he’d instruct staff to help keep their heads straight down and comply with govt guidelines to the letter.
“Everyone has been very careful… If several (teaching materials) may touch on political sensitivities, then we’re going skirt around it, ” said the main, who requested anonymity.
“Nobody wants trouble and the instructors don’t want to be held personally responsible. ”
LOWER REQUIREMENTS?
Authorities have rejected the thought of an emigration influx and argue educators choose to leave their own posts for various reasons, including pension and further study.
Hong Kong’s training chief said schools were generally operating smoothly and there have been enough qualified teachers despite a “slightly higher” attrition rate.
But a recent survey of a hundred and forty schools showed each institution on average dropped 32 students plus seven teachers over the past year.
Newspapers Ming Pao surveyed its classified area and found at minimum 200 schools were still looking for instructors in late July. In previous years, most vacancies would be filled by the end of May.
Administrators state some schools have already been forced to hire less-qualified candidates.
Colleges are also competing to poach students, as their headcount often determines their government financial assistance and protects against closure.
And education is not the only real sector affected by mind drain.
The city’s labour push has dropped about 6 per cent considering that 2018 to several. 75 million people, according to the latest recognized figures, the lowest number in nearly 10 years.
A new generation of Hong Kong teachers are now weighing choices and assessing dangers that come with their professions.
University graduate Mak, 23, has spent a year training English at a supplementary school even though this individual does not have a teacher’s diploma – a fact his employer failed to seem to mind.
“I’ll continue training for the next few years, however, not necessarily in the long term, ” he said.
Mak feels they have little control over what happens to his profession.
“There’s very little that can be changed, inch he sighed. “You either submit, or quit. ”