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South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- General
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong schools told to add national education elements to more subjects
Hong Kong's school curriculum framework has been revised to incorporate national education elements in more subjects, including English, maths, music, visual arts and sports. Advertisement Teaching examples include learning about ancient mathematicians' achievements, holding Chinese folk singing contests and learning how to play Chinese football games. Schools have also been asked to play patriotic songs on different occasions and broadcast major sports games live to boost patriotism. In a circular on Thursday, the Education Bureau told all schools, including those under the English Schools Foundation, Hong Kong's largest international school group, that the updated guide was to strengthen the learning of national security and align with the implementation of patriotic education. 'The Education Bureau has updated the curriculum framework and subject curriculum frameworks to keep national security education abreast of the times, providing teachers with clearer and more comprehensive guidelines, and helping schools further promote national security education on the existing solid foundation,' the circular said. Advertisement In 2021, less than a year after Beijing imposed the national security law on the city, the bureau released a master curriculum framework for national security education. Another 15 subject guides were released to detail how national security education should be implemented in primary and secondary schools.
HKFP
05-05-2025
- General
- HKFP
Environmentalist Jenny Quinton on running eco-education centre Ark Eden and protecting Hong Kong's ‘big nature'
For almost three decades, Hong Kong environmentalist Jenny Quinton has planted tens of thousands of trees on Lantau Island, where montane forests are surrounded by waters that are home to rich marine life, including the uniquely pink Chinese white dolphins. Lantau, Hong Kong's largest island, is vibrant with wildlife and vegetation. It is also where the city's recently expanded international airport is located, with the government eyeing the development of its southern coastal areas into 'eco-tourism' sites. 'My take really is that Hong Kong is the amazing city that it is because it's a city with big nature,' Quinton told HKFP at her home, buried deep in the forest in Mui Wo, a rural area in the northeast of Lantau, where she has lived since moving from the UK more than 30 years ago. 'Lantau – and I mean Hong Kong itself – has amazing biodiversity which should not be overlooked,' she said. 'The priority now should be to conserve this incredibly precious endangered environment.' Pointing to the lush green forest behind her house, which was once a barren slope, Quinton said the area had been plagued by 'bad land management' and the people's lack of ecological awareness. Wildfires engulfed a vast area of forest in Lantau in the 1990s, especially during the traditional Chinese festivals of Ching Ming and Chung Yeung, when people often burned paper offerings during visits to family graves. Regenerating the area took decades, and it was a collective effort involving her, other devoted residents, and volunteers at her eco-education centre, Ark Eden, Quinton said. The environmentalist founded Ark Eden in 2006 as an outdoor site that promotes permaculture – a system of designing sustainable land management that allows humans and nature to coexist. As the centre approaches its 20th anniversary next year, much still needs to be done to raise eco-literacy in the city, Quinton said. 'You can't do anything unless you change people's thinking,' she said. 'Big wake-up call ' Quinton, who grew up in Cheshire, England, was 28 when she arrived in Hong Kong in 1989 on a backpacking trip with her boyfriend. She originally planned to work as a teacher in Australia, but the pair were immediately attracted by the nature on Lantau – a ferry ride away from the skyscraper-lined business district of Central. After only three weeks in Hong Kong, they moved into a village house in Mui Wo – and a few months later into another house, where she still lives – thanks to the hospitality of other expat residents. But it was not a time without challenges and trauma, especially when her boyfriend died prematurely several years after their arrival in Hong Kong. Quinton became a single mother raising two kids. She set up an English kindergarten in Mui Wo in 1991 before working as a primary school teacher for the English Schools Foundation (ESF). It was also a time when wildfires in Mui Wo could threaten life and property – including Quinton's. 'I had a very big wake-up call that day, which was probably about 1992 or '93,' she said. 'The place being just shrouded in smoke and all these fires descending, and one fire coming from the back [of the house].' She escaped with her children and raced up the hill, taking brooms with her to fight the fire until the government's helicopters arrived to put out the fire. She began 'to understand what's happening to this place,' she said. 'It's the fires. This was why the land looked like it [did], and this was why the rivers were like they were.' The incident changed her life. 'In the morning, I wasn't an environmentalist. By the time night came, I was.' Ark Eden Starting Ark Eden stemmed from Quinton's observation that Hong Kong lacked institutions promoting environmental awareness in the early 2000s, especially those that brought people into nature. 'One of the problems we had [with] protecting the environment was that there's hardly any eco-literacy at school,' she said on the rooftop of her home, which was also the first facility of Ark Eden. 'If you wanted to get environmental education, it had to happen outside.' Ark Eden, sandwiched between a small river and a mountain, is within walking distance of Mui Wo's Silvermine Waterfall and Silvermine Cave. The facilities of Ark Eden have expanded over the years. They now include an eco-farm, a natural swimming pool that uses a mountain stream, as well as a playground with seesaws and swings – all hand-built by Quinton and her team. Although the site is located almost 30 minutes on foot from Mui Wo's ferry pier, demand for Ark Eden's programmes is high, Quinton said. That was the case during the Covid-19 pandemic, when school-age children were forced to study from home, losing the opportunity to socialise with peers on campus. Children 'absolutely need these relationships to develop,' she said. 'What happened was there were big chunks of child development that were really delayed' due to the pandemic. Summer camps at Ark Eden allow children to participate in weeks-long structured programmes on the site and its surroundings to build their resilience, life skills, and the spirit of free play in nature, she added. A camp programme attracts between 30 and 60 children, supported by Ark Eden's team of six full-time staff members and a larger group of part-time instructors. 'Work with the people' Last month, the government unveiled further plans to develop an 'eco-recreation corridor' along the southern coast of Lantau, comprising the island's Cheung Sha, Pui O, Shui Hau, and Shek Pik. 'It provides a variety of recreation and eco-tourism facilities… with a view to shaping South Lantau into a one-of-a-kind leisure and recreation destination as well as bringing more experiences to the general public and tourists,' the Development Bureau said in a press release. Land tendering for the 9.3-hectare area is expected in 2027. During a public consultation last year, Ark Eden expressed opposition to the plan. 'The Hong Kong Government needs to truly value Lantau Island for its unique contribution to Hong Kong, China and the world,' Quinton wrote in a submission to the government. She argued that 'most of the aims of the proposal can also be achieved by leaving the South Lantau coast undeveloped.' Quinton told HKFP that past development in Lantau had caused irreparable damage to the island's environment. She highlighted the dwindling number of Chinese white dolphins, whose habitat has further shrunk due to major infrastructure development projects, such as the third runway of the international airport and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. Construction for the third runway and the cross-border bridge – both located north of Lantau – began in 2016 and 2009 and was completed in 2021 and 2018, respectively. In 2010, more than 150 white dolphins were spotted in the waters surrounding Lantau, dropping to 34 in 2023, according to official figures. 'We totally killed the Lantau seas with building up Hong Kong,' Quinton said. 'But if we really stop thinking [about] short-term profit all the time and [start] thinking long-term prosperity, we're gonna preserve Lantau Island.' She urged the government to pay heed to local residents, who have taken care of the environment for decades. 'Work with the people, ask the people what they would like. And then you will – with the help – be able to create something that is far more high-class than you've ever asked.' Almost 1,000 monthly donors make HKFP possible. Each contributes an average of HK$200/month to support our award-winning original reporting, keeping the city's only independent English-language outlet free-to-access for all. Three reasons to join us: 🔎 Transparent & efficient: As a non-profit, we are externally audited each year, publishing our income/outgoings annually, as the city's most transparent news outlet. 🔒 Accurate & accountable: Our reporting is governed by a comprehensive Ethics Code. We are 100% independent, and not answerable to any tycoon, mainland owners or shareholders. Check out our latest Annual Report, and help support press freedom.
South China Morning Post
01-04-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong's ESF international school group plans fee increment of about 4.8%
Hong Kong's largest international school group plans to raise tuition fees by about 4.8 per cent on average – or as much as HK$750 (US$96.40) per month – for its primary and secondary sections in the next academic year, pending authorities' approval. Advertisement The fee increase rate was in line with what it proposed to the government last year and subsequently received approval. On Monday evening, the English Schools Foundation (ESF) met to approve its budget for the coming academic year starting in September, and had greenlit an average 4.8 per cent rise in fees for its primary and secondary sections. If approved, parents will have to pay HK$650 to HK$750 more monthly, depending on which grade their children are in. But for Discovery college, a private independent school under ESF, a fee rise of 5.9 per cent was proposed to the government, meaning parents have to pay HK$900 to HK$1,190 more monthly. Advertisement For its five kindergartens, it proposed an increase of 6.26 per cent to 9.9 per cent to education authorities, with Abacus International Kindergarten in Sai Kung having the largest proposed increase at nearly 10 per cent.
