Following is a question by the Hon Jimmy Ng and a written reply by the Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin, in the Legislative Council today (October 15):

Question:

     The 2024 Policy Address sets out a series of task indicators for patriotic education. These include the launch of the "Love Our Home, Treasure Our Country 3.0" series of inter‑school national education activities, the provision of training places within three years for about 1 000 junior secondary Chinese History teachers who are not major in History, and the provision of at least 1 000 training places within two years in learning circles for senior secondary Chinese History teachers. Furthermore, this year's Policy Address states that the Government will promote patriotic education facilities in the Mainland, making them the patriotic education bases of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), and that the Education Bureau (EDB) will also design itineraries for students to experience the founding history of our country. The latest status of the Government's implementation of national education and national security education in schools has drawn significant public attention. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the latest status of the implementation of various patriotic education measures, and among them, the number of measures that have meet their targets; whether higher targets will be set for those that have already met their targets; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(2) given that national education covers a broad range of areas, and that relevant learning elements are embedded across multiple academic subjects, whether the authorities will include more academic subjects when setting new indicators for patriotic education in the future; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(3) given that the EDB has administered multiple rounds of the Basic Law and National Security Law Test for teachers, of the respective pass rates for these test rounds;

(4) of the number of schools applied for the Enhanced "My Pledge to Act" funding programme in the past three years, so that these schools are provided with additional resources to strengthen the implementation of national education and national security education in schools; the proportion of successful applications under the programme and the average amount of funding granted per approved application;

(5) as it is reported that the EDB has recently updated the national security curriculum framework for primary and secondary schools to highlight the concept of "comprehensive security", and will organise briefing sessions and teacher training courses to provide support for schools in implementing national security education, of the respective details of those briefing sessions and training courses, including the estimated number of sessions to be held and the number of teachers expected to receive training;

(6) of the details regarding the promotion of patriotic education facilities in the Mainland, including the estimated number of such facilities that will become the patriotic education bases of the HKSAR, and the names of these facilities; and

(7) of the estimated time and manpower required by the EDB to design itineraries for students to experience the founding history of our country; the expected timeline to make these itineraries available for schools to register for participation?

Reply:

President,

     National education has been one of the goals of the school curriculum and an indispensable part of school education. National education has already incorporated elements and spirit of patriotic education. Key contents which dovetail with the Patriotic Education Law of People's Republic of China, including Chinese history, national affairs, Chinese culture, national geography, Constitution and Basic Law education, national symbols and signs (such as the national flag, national anthem and national emblem), and national security, have been embedded in various Key Learning Areas (KLAs) and relevant subjects at the primary and secondary levels as well as the curriculum of kindergartens, and are closely intertwined with values education and life-wide learning activities to provide essential learning experiences for students. 

     The Education Bureau (EDB) continues to adopt a multi-pronged and co-ordinated approach to integrate patriotic education into school education, such as optimising the curriculum, developing learning and teaching resources, offering training to teachers, organising diversified life-wide learning activities (covering out-of-classroom practical activities, Mainland study tours, etc.), and providing resources and grants for schools, with a view to providing comprehensive, all-round, interdisciplinary and cross-key stage support for schools to integrate patriotic education into daily learning and teaching, as well as helping students deepen their understanding of our country, develop a sense of national identity and enhance their national awareness and national spirit.
     
     The reply to the question raised by the Hon Jimmy Ng is as follows:
     
(1) and (2) The 2024 Policy Address puts forward a series of indicators on promoting patriotic education on and off campus. The target has been met for seven of the initiatives in the 2024/25 school year. The remaining initiative, scheduled for implementation over a period of three school years from 2024/25 to 2026/27, has also made satisfactory progress in the 2024/25 school year. Details are as follows:
 

• Inter‑school national education activities: The "Love Our Home, Treasure Our Country 3.0" series of inter‑school national education activities were successfully held with an attendance exceeding 50 000, far higher than expected.
• National geography: The EDB has completed the trial teaching scheme and developed the National Geography Resource Portal, and will continue to develop learning and teaching resources on national geography for reference and use by schools.
• Focus inspections on national education: Focus inspections on national education were conducted in at least 50 schools to enhance the quality and effectiveness of national education.
• Mainland exchange programmes and study tours: Starting from the 2024/25 school year, at least 30 routes with "red resources" have been provided for participation by students.
• Activities for kindergarten parents: Starting from the 2024/25 school year, all kindergartens joining the Kindergarten Education Scheme (KES) are required to organise one or more activities relating to national education for parents each year.
• Training for senior secondary Chinese History teachers: Provided more than 1 000 training places in the 2024/25 school year and will continue to provide such training in the new school year.
• Implementation of the Primary Humanities curriculum: The EDB completed the review of the textbooks for Primary One and Primary Four, provided over 9 900 training places, and continued to provide learning and teaching resources. The subject of Primary Humanities has been implemented starting from the 2025/26 school year.
• The remaining indicator for implementation over a period of three school years has been launched and taken forward as scheduled. The EDB has planned to provide training places for about 1 000 junior secondary Chinese History teachers who are not History majors within three years starting from the 2024/25 school year. In the 2024/25 school year, some 400 teachers attended the training sessions. Training places will continue to be offered in the new school year to support teachers in completing systematic training.

     Building on the outcomes achieved last year, the 2025 Policy Address further sets the following indicators (including new indicators):
 

• Regularise and popularise the "Love Our Home, Treasure Our Country" series of activities starting from the 2025/26 school year and strive to foster patriotic education in schools through collaboration across school sponsoring bodies and among schools to further enhance students' national identity and cultural confidence, with a target annual attendance of no less than 30 000.
• Continue to conduct focus inspections on national education in at least 50 schools in the 2025/26 school year to enhance the quality and effectiveness of national education.
• Provide no less than 40 itineraries for students to experience the founding history of our country through Mainland exchange programmes and study tours starting from the 2025/26 school year.
• Organise various activities on national education for participation by students in the 2025/26 school year, with an expected attendance of no less than 200 000.
• Continue to provide training places for junior secondary Chinese History teachers who are not History majors in the 2025/26 school year (over a period of three years).
• Provide 1 500 teacher training places and continue to provide learning and teaching resources for the optimised senior secondary Chinese History and History curricula in the 2026/27 school year.

(3) Starting from the 2023/24 school year, all newly-appointed teachers in public sector schools, Direct Subsidy Scheme schools and kindergartens joining the KES (including newly-joined teachers and teachers changing schools) are required to pass the Basic Law and National Security Law Test (BLNST) in order to be considered for appointment. From the 2022/23 to 2024/25 school years, the EDB conducted a total of 16 rounds of BLNST for degree holders and non-degree holders involving about 72 600 applicants in total, including serving teachers, those aspiring to join the teaching profession and prospective graduates. A total of about 55 570 candidates sat for the BLNST, and the passing rate was over 90 per cent.

(4) To support schools in promoting national education, national security education, as well as media and information literacy education, the Quality Education Fund (QEF) launched the enhanced "My Pledge to Act" funding programme in mid-November 2021. According to the school-based needs, publicly-funded primary and secondary schools (including special schools) may submit an application to the QEF for funding not exceeding $300,000; kindergartens joining the KES may submit an application for funding not exceeding $150,000. Since the launch of the programme, about 880 schools have submitted their applications with funding approved. Generally speaking, as the additional resources required for implementing the relevant projects vary among schools, and the amount of funding to be granted is determined based on the content of individual applications, the average amount of funding granted cannot fully reflect the actual situation of the programme with respect to its implementation.

(5) The EDB released respectively in May and July 2025 the updated Curriculum Framework of National Security Education in Hong Kong (the Curriculum Framework) and the curriculum frameworks of National Security Education for 27 subjects covering eight KLAs and the Citizenship and Social Development subject, so as to keep national security education abreast of the times, provide teachers with clearer and more comprehensive guidelines, and help schools further promote national security education upon the existing solid foundation.

     After the release of the above frameworks, the EDB has held eight briefing sessions within four months to brief stakeholders, including representatives of school sponsoring bodies, school supervisors, principals and teachers, on the main updates and highlights of the Curriculum Framework and elucidate how the elements of national security education can be incorporated into various KLAs. The EDB will also provide no less than 1 000 teacher training places relating to national security education in the 2025/26 school year. The training programmes will comprise, among others, face-to-face and online courses, study tours, experience sharing sessions and learning circles to enhance teachers' professional competence for the effective implementation of national security education.

(6) This year marks the 80th anniversary of victory in the War of Resistance and the World Anti-Fascist War. With the support of the Central Government, the Museum of the War of Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, located next to the Marco Polo Bridge in Beijing, has been established as the first Patriotic Education Base for Hong Kong and Macao Youth on August 21 this year.

     The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government will continue to promote patriotic education facilities in the Mainland by making them patriotic education bases of the HKSAR, and encourage visits by more students and youths to help them comprehensively understand the history and culture as well as the development and achievements of our country.

(7) In the 2025/26 school year, a number of tours with itineraries designed to help students experience the founding history of our country have been launched starting from October 2025. Schools will be invited to participate in due course. For example, under the "'Passing on the Torch' Platform Programme Series: An Exploration into the History, Humanities and Ethnic Culture in Guizhou", students will visit the Guizhou Long March Culture Digital Art Museum, where they will learn about key historical events of the Long March, experience the hardships faced by the Red Army, and gain a deeper understanding of the Long March spirit. The manpower resources required for the relevant Mainland exchange programmes are subsumed under the recurrent expenditure of the EDB.

Ends/Wednesday, October 15, 2025
Issued at HKT 12:50

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