HKEAA Ends Meeting With No Decision On DSE Question

The Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA) said on Monday night that a council meeting to decide whether to pull a controversial question in its Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) history exam had not yet reached a conclusion, and there's no word yet when it will meet again.

The Education Bureau has ordered the HKEAA to scrap the question on whether Japan did more good than harm to China between 1900 and 1945, saying it's biased and hurtful to Chinese people.

The exams body said the issue requires careful consideration. It also said it would work with the bureau, to review how exam questions are generated.

The controversy has polarised society, with different groups staging protests outside the HKEAA's office in Wan Chai.

The pro-Beijing group, New Millenarian, on Monday morning accused the authority of making an “unforgivable” and “careless” mistake, and demanded the Education Bureau be given more say in vetting questions.

A few hours later, the Hong Kong Fishermen Consortium handed in a petition, and accused the authority of being "inhumane" by coming up with such a question.

In the afternoon, Demosisto, which has its roots in a student protest against plans to impose national education years ago, protested outside the HKEAA office, and the Hong Kong Secondary School Students Action Platform said it was planning a judicial review against any scrapping of the question.

Education sector lawmaker Ip Kin-yuen urged the HKEAA to exercise its professional judgement, saying that banning the question would have a far-reaching impact on assessment systems in the SAR.