Teacher's Sacking Leaves Parents Divided

There were mixed feelings among parents of students at a Kowloon Tong primary school in the news on Tuesday after it emerged that a teacher was de-registered on the grounds that he had used pro-Hong Kong independence materials in class.

One father told RTHK that his two children are in primary two and three at the school, and that one of his children was taught by the teacher in question last year.

"I went through the worksheet last night. I personally don’t think there’s any problem with it as there isn’t any premise for a pro-independence answer," he said.

"If our kids in Hong Kong are not equipped with critical thinking skills, I’m afraid there will be more education problems in the future. This is my personal thought.

"I’m not the Education Bureau, and I don’t know much details about [the case], so it’s hard for me to make any criticism. But as a parent, I feel pity and regret for such a good teacher. We feel sad about that."

Another father told RTHK that school is a place where kids learn about what is right and wrong.

"This place should allow students to differentiate between right or wrong under teachers’ guidance freely. I hope even after this situation happened – this time it happened in this school – other teachers are able to provide a space for kids to discuss what is right or wrong."

But another father, however, said he thinks teachers should be disqualified if they can't teach their students using proper materials, adding that he will pay more attention to his child's homework in future.

The Alliance Primary School put out a statement later on Tuesday morning saying that the teacher in question has already left his job and thus there were no further comments, and that the school will do its best to ensure the campus remains "politically neutral" and provide students with appropriate education.

Earlier on Tuesday morning, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said the deregistering of the teacher was "a serious matter" and was only done after a thorough probe by the Education Bureau.