Human Rights Education

One recent development of human rights education in Hong Kong is thepublication of the Syllabus for Secondary Schools (Civic Education) for Form 1to 3. After the publication of the new Guideline on Civic Education in Schoolsin 1996, this is the first civic education syllabus prepared by the CurriculumDevelopment Council.

Though understanding human rights as a civic value and its significance hasbeen stated in the aims and objectives of the new syllabus, it is curious thatthe word "human rights" does not appear on the areas of knowledge inthe syllabus content. In the section on values to be cultivated, "humanrights and responsibilities" is introduced as one of the sustaining socialvalue. Besides, a significant portion of the syllabus content is allocated toknowledge concerning the national community.

Critics commented that though they welcome the introduction of the syllabus,its impact on human rights education will depend on two factors: first, how manyschools will adopt the syllabus in their classes and second, what topics theteachers will choose to teach. Concerned academics also brought out that a newsyllabus in the upper forms is now a more burning issue.

July 1998