Students, Fishermen Rally Over DSE Question Row

Rival protest groups – from students to fishermen – demonstrated outside the exam board office on Monday as it started discussions on a government directive to scrap a controversial question in this year’s Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) history exam.

The Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA) is to decide whether to invalidate the question which asked students whether they agreed that Japan did more good than harm to China in the period between 1900 and 1945.

From Monday morning, groups allied to different sides staged protests outside the HKEAA's office in Wan Chai.

The pro-Beijing group New Millenarian 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, it was the turn of Demosisto, which has its roots in a student protest against plans to impose national education years ago, to demonstrate outside the HKEAA office.

Demosisto leader Isaac Cheng was accompanied by DSE students, some of whom had taken the history exam.

They described the announcement by the EDB as “unfair”, with one saying she felt as though the last three years of study had gone to waste.

“I think it’s unfair because the question itself doesn’t have any problem, because it’s just answering from the benefits or pros and cons, which is a common type of question you see in HKDSE history questions,” said one of the students.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Secondary School Students Action Platform said it was planning a judicial review against any scrapping of the question.

Thomas Loh, a DSE candidate who just sat the history exam, said he thought the call to invalidate the question was insulting.

"They just see that candidates don't have the ability to digest the question or to answer perfectly using the questions ... we learned the whole period of history so we can actually answer in different dimensions and different angles," Loh said.

Speaking to reporters at Legco, Education sector lawmaker Ip Kin-yuen urged the HKEAA to exercise its professional judgement.

"If the council is going to say that this kind of question is not allowed, it will have a far-reaching impact on ... the future of assessment systems in Hong Kong," he warned.