University of Hong Kong makes national security law course a mandatory requirement for graduation

Undergraduate students at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) will be required to take an introductory course in Beijing’s national security law to graduate.

According to an email sent to all HKU students on Monday and seen by HKFP, students will be required to enroll in a non-credit course titled “Introduction to the Constitution, Basic Law and National Security Law.” The requirement will come into effect from the 2022/23 school year.

The course will take place online and take “a self-directed learning approach”, according to the email. More details will be announced on September 1 at the start of the new school year.

Including HKU, all eight universities funded by the city’s University Grant Committee (UGC) have launched or will launch national security courses.

Mingpao reported Monday that national security courses at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Hong Kong Polytechnic University will begin next academic year.

Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong University of Education, Lingnan University and City University of Hong Kong have already integrated national security content into their curriculum as seminars and workshops, Ming Pao reported.

HKFP has contacted HKU for comment.

National Security Picture Books

Meanwhile, the Education Bureau (EDB), in conjunction with the Security Bureau, will provide picture books to kindergartens, primary and secondary schools across the city to “elevate the sense of national security”, it said. said Education Secretary Christine Choi on Sunday.

“By developing diversified reading resources, we will help schools launch national education to enhance students’ understanding of the country and nurture their concept of the nation and their national identity…” Choi said Sunday during a event at the Hong Kong Book Fair.

“At a time, [the Education Bureau]in collaboration with the Security Bureau, will provide all secondary and primary schools, as well as kindergartens with a picture book titled “Our Country, Our Security”, and introduce a sense of national security and raise awareness students and their sense of responsibility to maintain national security through various themes and real-life examples.

The education secretary also said the EDB would provide grants of around HK$50 million for secondary and primary schools, and HK$10 million for kindergartens, to promote reading.

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