Education Chief Rules Out Revealing Textbook Panel

The Education Secretary, Kevin Yeung, has ruled out revealing the people who are in the Education Bureau's text book review committee, saying it would affect their independence.

The secretary made the comment when he addressed a group of Demosisto activists, led by their leader Joshua Wong, who turned up to protest outside a school where Yeung was attending a function.

The protest was against the lack of transparency in the membership of the review panels, and the potential for political censorship. They also wanted Yeung to reveal the identities of those who sit on the review group.

But the education chief rejected it, saying it is important that members are able to work without being subject to any pressure. He added that the government is still reviewing whether to make liberal studies an elective, and stressed there are no plans so far to alter the current education language policy.

There has been speculation that the government is trying to sideline Cantonese after it was revealed that a 2013 bureau document had quoted a mainland academic who said it could not strictly be considered a mother tongue because it is not a language, but a dialect.

Speaking later to RTHK, Wong said they wanted the government to continue liberal studies as it was needed to develop critical thinking.

He also told Richard Pyne that his group will continue to monitor the textbook saga.