Searching for an Identity: Debates over Moral and National Education as an Independent Subject in Contemporary Hong Kong

Abstract

The government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region [HKSAR] announced the introduction of Moral and National Education (MNE] as an independent and compulsory school subject in May 2011. The content of MNE's consultation draft and the teaching material produced by government-funded organizations incited about 100,000 people to demonstrate outside the Hong Kong government headquarters for eight consecutive days in early September 2012. Protesters including teachers, parents, students, and concerned members of the public described MNE as 'brainwashing, and demanded the curriculum's withdrawal. This article presents the historical development of national education in Hong Kong, the various challenges the MNE curriculum faced, and the conflicts and negotiations between the government and the public. It first explores the background of national education reform in Hong Kong since 2000. It then examines how the government instructed local schools to teach national identity in subjects of Chinese History and the newly proposed MNE. The next section discusses the declining importance of Chinese History education since 2000. The article concludes by reviewing the voices supporting and opposing MNE, the most recent development in Hong Kong's education today.