Keep Our Schools Open And Free, Educator Says

The outgoing chairman of the Hong Kong Association of the Heads of Secondary Schools has spoken out against plans by the authorities to tighten the monitoring of local schools.

Teddy Tang, who is retiring in a month’s time after 25 years as a headmaster, said worries about pro-independence sentiment on campus are overblown, and urged his colleagues to continue to ensure a free and open environment in schools.

He told RTHK that, according to his personal experience, there isn't as much support for Hong Kong independence or localist ideas among schoolchildren as some may think. Only a small fraction are interested in current affairs, he said.

But Tang says 'misunderstandings' have led to calls for more supervision of schools, including proposals to install surveillance cameras in classrooms.

He said such ideas would make students nervous, and make it impossible for them to trust their teachers.

He said educators must try their best to safeguard the autonomy of their schools, and maintain a free and open environment on campus so students would not hesitate to share their true feelings with teachers.

Tang's final year as an educator was one of the most challenging ever – with many students arrested amid months of anti-government protests.

Throughout, he tried to gain a better understanding of what students and protesters were thinking, by frequently visiting the popular online forum LIHKG.

“When I read LIHKG, I realised that for young people, we might actually be a part of the establishment, and an obstruction to development”, he said.

He also got personally involved, as one of the school principals who, along with teachers and social workers, went to the Hung Hom campus of Polytechnic University last November after hundreds of people were boxed in by police, and persuaded 300 underage students to leave.

He urged officials to gain a better understanding of students via direct and frank exchanges instead of just asking head teachers what their students are thinking.