Steadfastly Upholding the Conscience of the Education Sector
IP Kin-yuen, Legislative Councillor (Education)


1.    During the past few months, the SAR Government was at a loss what to do with the crisis right before us. The bill to amend the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance, which should have been withdrawn as early as June, remained so called "suspended" until September, when its formal withdrawal was announced. Similarly, while an independent investigation committee should have been established as far back as June, the Government has remained adamantly opposed to its establishment. Signs of incipient police violence have, as a consequence, metamorphosed into the most serious crisis of our time. The Central People’s Government has also made a serious misjudgment of the situation, turning a blind eye to the problem of police violence, and being completely out of touch with the hearts and minds of Hong Kong people, with the consequence that the crisis has aggravated. If we would like to do one thing to reverse the situation, it is to honestly face and strike at the root of the problem by establishing an independent investigation committee, so as to allow people’s fury to subside. Unfortunately the government chose emergency legislation instead, which I believe will only lead to deepr crisis.

2.    The crisis has also spread to secondary and primary schools. As schools are the epitome of society, the moods of teachers and students are naturally affected by major social events. Since the early part of the summer vacation, the education sector has already considered how to get prepared for a new school year which would be quite different: how to counsel emotionally disturbed students and help them to face conflicts in the family; how to professionally help students to understand the prevalent phenomena in society; how to mediate between students should there be bullying among them; how to handle demands for class boycotts; and how one could calm down one’s own emotions, and so on.

3.    At the same time, schools have been subjected to pressure from individuals in society, especially pressure from certain politicians who have been doing their utmost to exert pressure on the education sector. Sometimes, they even resort to the distortion of facts for the very purpose of attributing the crisis to education, to teachers, to the Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union (HKPTU) and even to the Education Bureau and making the education sector a scapegoat, so as to exonerate the Government.

4.    A rumour becomes a ‘fact’ when it is said one thousand times. In order that our citizens get the truth, I hereby reiterate two points of view of HKPTU:

(a)    Never has HKPTU urged students to launch class boycotts. If individual secondary school students request class boycotts, our suggestion has been that schools adopt a flexible approach and handle those taking part in class boycotts under the existing system of students taking leave, so as to avoid unnecessary conflicts. As we attach great importance to the duty of teachers taking good care of students, it is – even when we, in the past, called on teachers to boycott class (as opposed to students launching class boycotts), teachers still go back to schools and take care of their students, a situation dubbed ‘boycotting without stopping teaching’.

(b)    Peace and safety are our primary concerns. We have since June repeatedly called on secondary school students to stay away from scenes of conflict. As a step further, we have recently written to the principals and teachers of all secondary schools, primary schools and kindergartens in Hong Kong, asking them to convey to their students the importance of ensuring peace and safety. To parents and students, I hereby solemnly reiterate two points in our letter which we urged students to heed: (a) If you want to express your views, please ensure that you do so in a peaceful and rational way, that you respect teachers and other citizens, and that you accommodate divergent views; and (b) If you are an underage student, you should, for the sake of safety, stay far away from scenes where conflicts may occur.

5.    Allegations that HKPTU urged students to stage class boycotts and motivated them to go to the frontline of conflicts are, as can be seen from the above, utterly unfounded and totally contrary to the facts. We must steadfastly uphold the conscience of educators and,  conscientiously perform our duties.