Nanking massacre should not be taught to young students, former Hong Kong education chief says after outcry over graphic video
- Topic is not suitable for junior primary school students, as they ‘have no background and knowledge of the historical incidents’, says Fanny Law
- Children at one local primary school were left in tears by graphic archival footage shown following a bureau call for educators to develop in students ‘a sense of national identity’
The history of the Nanking massacre should not be taught in junior primary schools, a former Hong Kong education chief has said, after pupils were left distraught by graphic footage of the brutal killings screened in the classroom.
Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun, former permanent secretary for education and manpower, shared her views with the Post on Monday, as some school heads chose not to show videos provided by the Education Bureau to mark the 84th anniversary of the massacre following an outcry.
PLK HKTA Yuen Yuen Primary School in Tuen Mun on Thursday showed the footage to pupils, some of whom insiders said were as young as seven, or in Primary Two, as part of its activities commemorating the massacre by the invading Imperial Japanese Army, which began on December 13, 1937, in the city now known as Nanjing.
The video included scenes of rampaging Japanese soldiers burying Chinese civilians alive and shooting them in the head, as well as fields littered with the dead, including babies.
A Primary Two pupil on Monday morning told the media outside the school that some of his classmates cried and some refused to watch the video, which contained “scenes of execution and babies”.
Asked what the teacher did after students cried, the boy said: “The teacher continued to watch the video. Some students did not watch, holding their books.”
A Primary Four student, surnamed Wong, said after Monday classes each pupil was given a card to write down their feelings.
