Experts Slam Tung Chee-hwa's Liberal Studies Claim

Government officials and education sector workers have dismissed claims by former Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa that liberal studies in schools have made youngsters radical.

It was Tung that made liberal studies a compulsory subject at secondary schools when he was the city’s top leader.

But on Wednesday, he declared the subject a failure, and said it was partly to blame for the violence at recent anti-extradition bill protests.

However, the Education Bureau on Thursday said it does not see a link between the lessons and the behaviour of protesters.

The bureau's principal assistant secretary, Wendy Au, said the main objective of liberal studies is to help students think outside the box.

Education sector lawmaker Ip Kin-yuen, meanwhile, called the former CE's allegations "unfounded and groundless".

“This is a political issue, this is a matter of governance. They should not put the blame on education, they should not put the blame on teachers,” he said.

Fong King-lok, a liberal studies teacher and a core member of the Professional Teachers' Union, described Tung's remarks as "insulting" to educators.

“We are politically neutral. We are trying our best to illustrate different viewpoints to students, so that they can make their own judgement. This is what our professionalism demands of us,” he said.

“And may I invite him to be a student in my lessons, so that he might understand a lot more,” he added.