Teacher Struck Off Over Dodgy History Lessons: Govt

The Education Bureau has de-registered a primary school teacher over what it says were serious mistakes, peculiar learning materials and downright baseless ideas.

In a press release on Thursday, the bureau said the teacher had made up historical facts for a primary two general studies class, such as suggesting that the invention of paper in ancient China was to stop people from writing on tortoise shells or bones to “prevent animals from becoming extinct”.

The teacher was also said to have told students that the Opium Wars in the mid-19th century were waged against the Qing dynasty by Britain and France to “remove opium from China”.

These claims were made in “factually incorrect and peculiar voiceovers” the teacher did for videos prepared in April for students to watch at home when classes were suspended over the coronavirus outbreak, the bureau said.

It added that the teacher lacked both common sense and a basic knowledge of the subject, and had casually added personal speculation into the learning material, conveying "totally baseless concepts".

Last month, a teacher was de-registered for life on the grounds that he had prepared pro-Hong Kong independence materials for classes at a school in Kowloon Tong.

The move sparked an outcry over what critics said was part of the authorities’ attempts to crush freedom of speech.