The Guardian: Hong Kong primary teacher deregistered 'for talking about independence'

Teacher accused of violating legislation, reportedly discussing freedom of speech with pupils.

 A riot police officer in Hong Kong holds up a purple flag telling protesters they are breaking the law. Photograph: Miguel Candela/Sopa Images/Rex/Shutterstock

A Hong Kong primary school teacher has been deregistered after being accused of using pro-independence materials in class, reportedly to teach students about the concepts of freedom of speech and independence.

The education bureau accused the teacher of a premeditated act in violation of Hong Kong’s Basic Law, its de facto constitution, by having “spread a message about Hong Kong independence”.

“In order to protect students’ interest and safeguard teachers’ professionalism and public trust in the teaching profession, the education bureau decided to cancel the teacher’s registration,” it said in a statement.

Local media reports said the teacher had shown the class a video featuring a pro-independence activist, and had then asked the students questions including “what is freedom of speech?”, and “according to the video, what is the reason for advocating Hong Kong independence?”

The bureau said several teachers were warned over the incident, and that it would work to find other “black sheep” accused of professional misconduct.

At a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, the deputy secretary for education, Chan Siu Suk-fan, said the teacher “had a plan to spread the independence message” and the class discussed the manifesto of the National party – a political organisation outlawed in 2018.

Between July 2019, when mass pro-democracy protests began, and August this year, the bureau received 247 complaints about teachers’ purported involvement with the demonstrations. Of the 204 investigations concluded, 33 have resulted in reprimands or warning letters to teachers, and the bureau’s spokesman told the Guardian it had not ruled out removing the teaching registration of those found guilty of serious misconduct.

Hong Kong’s largest teachers’ union strongly condemned the teacher’s disqualification. In a statement, the Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union accused the education bureau of failing to conduct a fair investigation.

It said the unilateral disqualification and issuing of warning letters to the school were “despicable acts of intimidation of the school management” and were unacceptable.

Advocating for independence in Hong Kong – which was a growing but fringe demand of the mass pro-democracy protests through much of 2019 – is illegal under the national security law imposed by Beijing more than three months ago.

The secretary for education, Kevin Yeung, said the incident happened prior to the introduction of the national security law, but for future cases they would consult with law enforcement agencies.

The broadly-worded and ill-defined law, targeting acts of secession, subversion, foreign collusion and terrorism, has drawn international condemnation, resulted in dozens of arrests, and caused a chilling effect across schools and academia.

Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, who has driven a crackdown on dissidents and opposition in the region, said the case was a “very serious matter”.

“But if there are a very tiny fraction of teachers who are using their teaching responsibilities to convey wrong messages, to promote misunderstanding about the nation, to smear the country and the Hong Kong SAR [special administrative region] government without basis, then that becomes a very serious matter,” she said.

The Article: Hong Kong primary teacher deregistered 'for talking about independence'