Hong Kong has launched a series of activities to enhance national education, a Hong Kong government official told legislators Wednesday.

Hong Kong's Secretary for Education and Manpower Arthur Li noted that a program entitled "I love China", targeting for kindergarten students, aims to develop in them a sense of belonging to the country, a respectful attitude to the national flag and national anthem and to encourage them to cherish and observe the traditional Chinese culture.

He elaborated that with the return of Hong Kong to the motherland, there is a need to develop students' national identity, adding that moral and civic education is one of the four key tasks advocated in the curriculum reform of which national identity is one of the priority values schools have to develop among students.

Moreover, in the revised primary school curriculum of the subject General Studies, the strand of "national identity and Chinese culture" has been added. Additional topics to enhance students' understanding of the motherland are incorporated into the Personal, Social and Humanities Education (PSHE) KLA curriculum at different key stages.

In the proposed new senior secondary curriculum, elements of national education are also found in the subject Liberal Studies. Three compulsory units, namely: Life in Hong Kong under 'One Country, Two systems', Development of Modern China, and Chinese Cultural Heritage in the Modern World and an elective part on Chinese Way of Life in Global Society are included in the Area of Study of Society and Culture, he pointed out.

The Education and Manpower Bureau (EMB) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government has assisted schools to promote national education by providing various subsidies including the Moral and Civic Education grant which is paid on the basis of 400 HK dollar/class/annum.

Besides, the EMB has implemented the Chinese Cultural Project Incentive Award Scheme since 1997. The upper limit of each application is 50,000 HK dollars (US$6,410). In 2004, the EMB has initiated the "Study Trip to the Mainland of China Program." These activities help to enhance students', teachers' and parents' understanding of current developments and cultural aspects of the motherland, to develop their national identity and to strengthen their commitment towards the betterment of the country, according to the secretary.

To facilitate schools to promote national education, the EMB has produced and published various kinds of learning and teaching materials in the form of teaching kits, CD ROMs, video tapes, wall charts, web-based materials and ETV program to help teachers to enhance students' understanding of the motherland in a lively and diversified way, Li added.
 
(Xinhua News Agency November 4, 2004)