As Hong Kong students return for the new academic year, veteran teacher Wong is counting down the days until the political maelstrom sweeping the city leaves him no choice but to quit.
Wong, 34, fears he will soon join the exodus of teachers and students triggered by Beijing’s tightening grip on Hong Kong, which has started transforming local schools, according to multiple educators.
The latest government figures show more than 4,000 teachers left their jobs in the past school year, a five-year high and a 70 percent spike from the year before.
Photo: AFP
“I have no faith in the future of Hong Kong or that of the industry. It is hard to nurture a person in this environment,” Wong, who asked to use just his surname, said.
The political crackdown has coincided with the coronavirus pandemic, during which Hong Kong has kept strict zero-COVID rules that have fueled further departures. Students have pulled out of school in droves, with 30,000 fewer attending primary and secondary school in September last year compared to the preceding October.
Wong, who has taught for more than a decade, said five teenagers from his class of 32 withdrew halfway through a term to emigrate.
Photo: AFP
“The students are leaving not because they dislike the school, but because of Hong Kong’s environment.”
PATRIOTIC CLASSROOMS
China is remolding once outspoken Hong Kong in its own authoritarian image, following massive and sometimes violent democracy protests in 2019 in which youngsters played a key part.
Photo: AFP
Teachers have since been ordered to instil patriotism in students and comply with a Beijing-imposed national security law that has criminalized much dissent.
Curriculum are being tweaked to align more closely with Chinese Communist Party ideology.
Earlier this month teachers were told to “study and learn the key messages” of a recent speech by President Xi Jinping (習近平).
Students and parents have also been encouraged to report teachers who might be breaching the security law. Wong received a letter of reprimand from Hong Kong’s Education Bureau last year after his teaching materials analysing the pros and cons of civil disobedience drew anonymous complaints.
“It shattered the trust that was fundamental to teaching,” he recalled.
Between 2019 and last year, Hong Kong authorities received 344 complaints against teachers in relation to the democracy protests, with 55 percent of cases found to be substantiated.
One high-school principal said he would instruct staff to keep their heads down and comply with government guidelines to the letter.
“Everyone is being very careful ... If some (teaching materials) may touch on political sensitivities, then we’ll skirt around it,” said the principal, who requested anonymity. “Nobody wants trouble and the teachers don’t want to be held personally responsible.”
LOWER STANDARDS?
Authorities have rejected the idea of an emigration wave and argue teachers choose to leave their posts for various reasons, including retirement and further study.
Hong Kong’s education chief said schools were generally operating smoothly and there were enough qualified teachers despite a “slightly higher” attrition rate.
But a recent survey of 140 schools showed each institution on average lost 32 students and seven teachers over the past year.
Newspaper Ming Pao surveyed its classified section and found at least 200 schools were still looking for teachers in late July. In previous years most vacancies would be filled by the end of May.
Administrators say some schools have been forced to hire less-qualified candidates.
Schools are also competing to poach students, as their headcount often determines their government subsidies and protects against closure.
And education is not the only sector affected by brain drain. The city’s labor force has dropped about six percent since 2018 to 3.75 million people, according to the latest official figures, the lowest number in nearly a decade.
A new generation of Hong Kong teachers are now weighing options and assessing risks that come with their careers.
University graduate Mak, 23, has spent a year teaching English at a secondary school even though he does not have a teacher’s diploma — a fact his employer did not seem to mind.
“I’ll continue teaching for the next few years, but not necessarily in the long term,” he said.
Mak feels he has little control over what happens to his profession.
“There’s not much that can be changed,” he sighed. “You either submit, or quit.”
Taiwan’s semiconductor industry consumes electricity at rates that would strain most national grids. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) alone accounted for more than 9 percent, or 2,590 megawatts (MW), of the nation’s power demand last year. The factories that produce chips for the world’s phones and servers run around the clock. They cannot tolerate blackouts. Yet Taiwan imports 97 percent of its energy, with liquefied natural gas reserves measured in days. Underground, Taiwan has options. Studies from National Taiwan University estimate recoverable geothermal resources at more than 33,000 MW. Current installed capacity stands below 10 MW. OBSTACLES Despite Taiwan’s significant geothermal potential, the
In our discussions of tourism in Taiwan we often criticize the government’s addiction to promoting food and shopping, while ignoring Taiwan’s underdeveloped trekking and adventure travel opportunities. This discussion, however, is decidedly land-focused. When was the last time a port entered into it? Last week I encountered journalist and travel writer Cameron Dueck, who had sailed to Taiwan in 2023-24, and was full of tales. Like everyone who visits, he and his partner Fiona Ching loved our island nation and had nothing but wonderful experiences on land. But he had little positive to say about the way Taiwan has organized its
The entire Li Zhenxiu (李貞秀) saga has been an ugly, complicated mess. Born in China’s Hunan Province, she moved to work in Shenzhen, where she met her future Taiwanese husband. Most accounts have her arriving in Taiwan and marrying somewhere between 1993 and 1999. She built a successful career in Taiwan in the tech industry before founding her own company. She also served in high-ranking positions on various environmentally-focused tech associations. She says she was inspired by the founding of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) in 2019 by Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), and began volunteering for the party soon after. Ko
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chair Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) returned from her trip to meet People’s Republic of China (PRC) dictator Xi Jinping (習近平) bearing “a gift” for the people of Taiwan: 10 measures the PRC proposed to “facilitate the peaceful development of cross-strait relations.” “China on Sunday unveiled 10 new incentive measures for Taiwan,” wrote Reuters, wrongly. The PRC’s longstanding habit with Taiwan relations is to repackage already extant or once-existing policies and declare that they are “new.” The list forwarded by Cheng reflects that practice. NEW MEASURES? Note the first item: establishing regular communication mechanisms between the Chinese Communist Party
RSS