Hong Kong Teachers stand up against 'moral lessons'; Profession's biggest union says government's proposed curriculum should 'be given a fail'

Jennifer Ngo:

The city's biggest teachers' union has called on the government to scrap its plan to introduce mandatory moral and national education classes at schools after a survey of more than 2,000 of its members found widespread opposition to the proposal.

The pro-democracy Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union, which claims a membership of 80,000, or 90 per cent of all the city's teaching professionals, says the poll found 70 per cent were against the move.

Union officials also criticised the government for carrying out consultation over the move in a "condescending" way and called for a new round of talks.

"If we have to speak in terms of grading requirements, this document [proposing the new curriculum] would be given a `fail'," said James Hon Lin-shan, deputy director of the union's rights and complaints department.

Hong Kong Professional Teacher's Union website. Much more on the Moral and National Education (MNE) curriculum, here.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at August 11, 2011 2:46 AM
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