Hong Kong revamps school guides for visual arts, music to promote national identity, security

Education Bureau suggests traditional Chinese painting theory be used as criteria for assessing pupils’ artwork, among other new emphases

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A statue of Confucius. The new guide on visual arts includes aesthetics of Confucian and Taoist culture, and suggests teachers use traditional Chinese painting theory as a criteria of for assessing pupils’ artwork. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 5:12pm, 9 Aug 2024Updated: 5:52pm, 9 Aug 2024

Education authorities in Hong Kong have revamped the subject curriculum guides for two subjects, visual arts and music, to strengthen students’ national identity and bolster their understanding of national security through appreciation and practice of more Chinese artworks and culture.

In a circular released on Friday, the Education Bureau said the new guide on visual arts included aesthetics of Confucian and Taoist culture, and also suggested teachers use traditional Chinese painting theory as a criteria for assessing pupils’ artwork.

The new guides will apply to all primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong starting from next month.

The bureau said the changes came after an ad hoc committee was set up in 2022 to update the guides, tasked with deepening pupils’ understanding of Chinese culture.

“Through related music learning experiences, such as appreciation and performance of Chinese music, Cantonese opera, Chinese folk songs, and Chinese art songs, students will learn about the relationship between the musical characteristics and their cultural background and significance, thereby cultivating proper values and attitudes among students,” the bureau said in the circular.