Two days ago, a teacher wrote on Facebook that his/her school has received a notice from the Education Bureau asking them to set up a “national education file” for each student. The teacher worries that the future of students will be hurt if they are not “patriotic” enough.
Jillsandy Ho: This is the message from my teacher friend. The wolf CY Leung lies. National education had been started secretly. Don’t be a silent accomplice. See you tonight!
Name (blurred): My school has received a notice from the Education Bureau. From now on, students’ participation on national education activities will have to be entered into the database of the Education Bureau, which will be used in grade promotion and school changing. It means that every student will have a “national education file”, which will probably hurt one’s educational prospect if one is not patriotic enough!
National education has already reached this step, do you believe that the government will discuss its cancellation 3 years later?
(The next two paragraphs are protest info.)
Here’s an English guideline on using this national education database: http://cdr.websams.edb.gov.hk/Files/Others/NEMP_WebSAMS%20Guidelines_E.pdf
Here’s a Chinese powerpoint on using the system: http://cdr.websams.edb.gov.hk/Files/Others/NEMP_WebSAMS_11012012.pps
Students’ performances in national education mainland programmes will be recorded and sent to the Education Bureau.
On the “national education file”, STRN, which is “student reference number” and identical to the number of either Hong Kong Birth Certificate (HKBC) or Hong Kong Identity Card (HKIC), is recorded.
Netizens’ reactions
古: Refuse to tour the former residence of Mao the thief, deduct 10 points; Refuse to shed tears while looking at the thief flag, deduct 5 points…Deducting points endlessly. Perhaps, when one reaches primary 6, one doesn’t have enough point to get in secondary school…
Wong: The record contains ID number, therefore, without doubt, it will follow you through life!
Eddie: National education isn’t just a curriculum. It is suspected to be a path to create personal political file. If this implements officially, our next generation will be controlled forever, horrible and dark! Good life will be isolated from them forever, are you cruel enough to let it happen?
Columnist and scholar Chin Wan: Personal political file – the Communist Party uses secret psychic record to rule its people. This is a soul-summoning card that is used to make a fool of people. After the Communist Party of East Germany was overthrown, people found that very ridiculous comments were found on their personal files. This shocked people and affected their lives – made them step into a tragic fate. For instance, people could never find good jobs. These were all because of these political files.
Lists and statistics of students who have never attended national education mainland programmes are also required to send to the Education Bureau.
Netizens’ Reponses
Blogger Martin Oei: Hitler’s education
Yin: Under “extracurricular activities”, the option of “national education mainland activities” is listed separately. What is the intention? Catagorise students? Pull out alienation targets? If one has joined mainland activities, one is regarded as pure in composition; If not, one becomes an alienation target? This method is really communist.
Tang: I have expected the existence of this file. The political composition of an individual and a group…Ten years later, the distribution of all public resources probably requires political points.
Extra
From the Facebook of the student leader of Scholarism, Joshua Wong,
Joshua Wong: I have got info that some schools received inquiry calls from the Education Bureau asking numbers of students who brought black bands to school. (black band to against national education)
Dictionary of Politically Incorrect Hong Kong Cantonese 
[…] teachers to file record on students' activities related with national education. More from the Dictionary of politically incorrect Hong Kong Cantonese. Tweet Although the Hong Kong government claimed that it is not mandatory for […]
As a Mainlander, I feel this is simply unacceptable. Brainwashing the whole Hong Kong? If there are still freedom of speech, freedom of press in Hong Kong, the National Education can hardly be effective. Before the National Education, most of the students in Hong Kong are simply not interested in the events in Mainland; after it, the chances are: they are to find counterarguments against what has been taught in the class—you see, the negative news about CPC are just everywhere—If those in charge try to brainwash Hong Kong’s next generation, obviously national education alone won’t work.
But if Hong Kong is to lose freedom of speech, freedom of press—this is really going to be worrisome! By then, I would probably have to go to Taiwan to buy the books I can now easily do in Hong Kong.
Your cause is just; make this protest bigger—and I am sure there will be more supports from people like me, who hated all the lies told in the class.
I was born and went to kindergarten in Hong Kong, schooled in another country and later on studied in a third country. Having gone through 3 education systems, I would say that education in many, perhaps all, places in the world is used to shape citizens’ mindset. The difference is just the extent to which the government (read: political leaders of the day) use it to his/her purpose, and people’s response to it: Some agree with the leaders for pragmatic reasons, some accept it without thinking, and some just go through the motion but learn to evaluate critically later whether what he has been taught in school is really so. On the other hand, there are some who reject the system outright and some who just hate schools-because the latter cannot accept them as who they are or accomodate their learning style and/or difficulties.
No matter what motivates or puts off a person from school, deep inside us we know we all yearn for knowledge – one that is based on truth and not lies. That’s the way we are all created.
No education system (not even that in the so-called ‘land of the free’) can be completely independent from the influence of the government or academically influential people, and people will always seek to captivate others’ mind. But the most important thing is to search, embrace, and honour the truth and its source and to reject lies and its source.
Nevertheless, I agree with the protesters – keep up the struggle!
It’s horrible! The point of the exercise is clearly to punish those brave enough to speak out, or even to remain silent, on issues of nationalism, chauvinism, xenophobia verging on racial hatred, by creating files that will follow them throughout their lives. And of course the children of the people doing it are exempt, as they are sent to foreign schools
Is the Education Bureau’s request for student IDs of protesters even legal? I sure hope not.
I wonder what will happen if People Power delivers on its threat to filibuster every single motion that passes through Legco in response to national education. Clearly this is not sustainable in the long run. Ironically, one of the first motions of the year will probably be to formalize cloture. I’ll laugh if the number of votes needed for cloture happens to become the exact number of seats the pro-Beijing camp happens to win on the 9th.
Oh my goodness, isn’t this scary. It is quite ridiculous to gauge patriotism as such things are emotive and expressive. Must we affix a quantity or quality of political sentiment? Does one pass the test if we act like North Koreans seeing their leaders and their flag?
It is erroneous to call the PRC a communist regime for there is nothing communist or even socialistic about its governance. Ironically, it is politically a fascist regime which relies on extreme nationalistic ideology to retains its power and legitimacy. In today’s Hong Kong we are under such growing threats where we are to accept the legitimacy of the One Country Two System under the current Communist Regime under the guise of Chinese nationalism.
This current issue on hand with the personal file for National Education further exemplifies the incessant demands on the Party to bring Hong Kong society and its people in line to conform with its most extreme ideology. We cannot rule out if the Education Department will introduce personal files for children on their national affection, there is not already plans or plans implemented for personal political files on all citizens of Hong Kong.
It isn’t to say there isn’t already files of all of us in the cabinets within the walls of the Liason Office in Sai Wan. Some civil servants whom I know personally has long suspected government employees are under constant observation for their political inclinations outside the office.
Hong Kong lives in fearful and turbulent times. Under the 15 years of Chinese sovereignty, our city has not only stagnant in comparison to Mainland cities but have gone backwards and have underdone the stability and development we had previously enjoyed.
[…] that the curriculum is not mandatory and a committee has been set up to review the curriculum, a leaked document [zh] revealed that the Education Bureau demanded the teacher set up a “national education […]
Very unfair to the future of local students; sickening that this is actually allowed to happen! 😦
So aside from getting good grades, students also need to get sufficient ‘patriotic points’, and if they don’t earn enough ‘points’ then will their parents need to bribe the teachers with gifts for the sake of their children’s bright future??
Let the world see how ridiculous the CPC policies actually are while there is still media freedom in Hong Kong.
‘Sandwich’ is right when he/she said the PRC is more of a fascist regime than a communist one. Hongkongers, keep up with the resistance via the media and public outcry!
[…] that the curriculum is not mandatory and a committee has been set up to review the curriculum, a leaked document [zh] revealed that the Education Bureau demanded the teacher set up a “national education […]
Holy crap. Way to sell out the people, ATV.
This is the beginning of fascism.
Seriously, this story went on air? This should not be from a news department. It’s totally biased!!! Unbelievably sad…HK is in a very dire situation. 😦
“The views presented in this program belong solely to the presenter(s) and do not reflect the views of ATV.” Sure, we believe you……
Anyone else notice how Carrie Lam is almost always the one handling the press nowadays for the entire administration, especially on national education? Just like Henry Tang and Chan Mo-po, CY Leung and Eddie Ng are hiding behind their woman.
I had the opportunity to meet Carrie Lam when she was still the Development Sectary in the previous Tsang administration at a reception hosted by our government for increased cooperation between Hong Kong and my country. Just speaking for less than 3 minutes gave me the impression Ms Lam is a astute and firm speaker but extremely apolitical and quick to avoid any political sensitivities. She seemed to be an excellent government functionary but lack a politician’s flair.
Some question whether she more the acting Chief Executive rather than the Chief Secretary but I believe she is acting in the public as the government spokeswoman.
[…] blog reports on how many Hong Kongers fear their national education record will follow them around for life. via […]
you guys don’t realize the owner of ATV is a PRC kow-tow doggie?
when is the Hong Kong citizenry get off their cowardly behinds and do something instead of trying to preserve the pittance their iron bowls in their micro-concrete cell??
To most, life under the CCP hasn’t become quite as bad as death by PLA tank yet (which will surely happen if a true rebellion were to form in HK). Will things be different in the future? I don’t know.
I have noticed that most Western media point back to the China Model booklet without realizing that the problems run much deeper than that. Pretty sure none of them have actually read the curriculum guide or as much as interviewed an actual HKer.
Of course they won’t tell the rest of the world everything. They don’t want your BNO to become a BC. 😀 Their coverage on Hong Kong problems tends to be very superficial. I think Washington Post does a better job than the most. I argued with at least 3 reporters but it is just useless to argue with them. Anyway, you see the reason why HKers need to write their own English political blogs.
What ever happened to this?
“…Under the terms of the Joint Declaration, China promised that Hong Kong would “enjoy a high degree of autonomy” and “the current social and economic systems in Hong Kong will remain unchanged” for 50 years.” (Source: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL34071.pdf)
Guess they figure no need to honor it…on with the assimilation. >_<
Who to complain to? The UN Security Council? Oh wait, they’re both on it.
not even 5 years, CCP interfered in HK affairs with Article 23…not to mention the self censorship of the media
what should be done is take all the real estate developers that kow-tow to CCP and operate in China and banned their operations from the rest of the world.
“List of students failing to attend Mainland Exchange Programs”
“List of students failing to attend Mainland Exchange Programs (Summary Report)”
[…] Kong’s education bureau had instructed the principals of all government schools to keep a record of students and teachers who participated in the anti-NE protest, and note down teachers’ […]
[…] Hong Kong’s education bureau had instructed the principals of all government schools to keep a record of students and teachers who participated in the anti-NE protest, and note down teachers’ […]
What the f*** is this b*llsh*t ..
Please excuse my language.. I’m a bit too frustrated to form another coherent sentences.