'Liberal Studies May Now Become A Brainwashing Tool'

Activists belonging to an alliance of students and teachers said on Friday that they fear Liberal Studies will end up as a tool for brainwashing in schools by limiting the capacity of pupils to think freely.

The Education Breakthrough and Progressive Teachers' Alliance said the Education Bureau should publicise its vetting standards for Liberal Studies textbooks amid allegations that the bureau is trying to censor the textbooks.

This comes as reports said that some publishers revamped their textbooks on the subject following a voluntary consultation with the bureau.

Examples highlighted by the groups include one publisher downplaying the issue of pollution in the mainland in the chapter on energy and the environment compared to a previous version of the textbook, and another tweaking information on the mainland's censorship of Western movies into content focusing on "dispute over the imported cultural products."

Education Breakthrough said that it now worries that the Liberal Studies will eventually become a tool for "brainwashing" students, and removes any opportunities for students to think freely and independently.

The group's spokesperson Isaac Cheng said some of the modified textbooks were one-sided he was "deeply concerned" about the situation and what it would mean for the future.

Cheng revealed that he had tried inviting Liberal studies teachers to speak, but some were scared of airing their opinions in public out of fear that they might be punished or be sacked.

The group is planning to organise a signature campaign against censorship of textbooks, as well as create an online database of textbook changes that critics find questionable.

They have also called on the 18 district councils to invite Education Bureaus for meetings to explain the textbook revisions, and also appealed to students to boycott the new textbooks and continue using old ones.

The Education Bureau earlier denied claims, calling the allegations "smears," and that it has an "unshirkable responsibility" to "rectify problems" in the Liberal Studies curriculum.

Earlier this week, the Hong Kong Liberal Studies Teachers Association criticised the bureau over a lack of transparency into the process. The association said that in some of the new textbooks, publishers removed terms such as "separation of powers" and a question bank about civil disobedience.