Indy row teacher's sacking defended

The deregistered teacher has the inescapable responsibility for the problematic lesson plan he designed, even though he did not teach the class in person, says Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung.

On a radio program yesterday, Yeung defended the Education Bureau's decision to revoke the teacher's registration because of professional misconduct late last month - the first time it has done so.

His subordinate said the teacher, who used to work at Alliance Primary School in Kowloon Tong, attempted to spread pro-Hong Kong independence messages in an 85-minute life education lesson plan and worksheets he prepared. The teacher has not been named.

"We didn't just consider if the teacher taught the class," Yeung said. "As the lesson plan's designer, he had inescapable responsibility for problems arising from it."

He said the bureau also investigated the school.

And whether students supported independence is "not the point," Yeung said. "Even if students were not affected by the lesson, its design itself had a huge problem and its goal was wrong. Can we move past the issue because luckily there's no victim?"

Education sector lawmaker Ip Kin-yuen, who is also vice president of the Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union, said it would assist the teacher in filing an appeal against the decision. And if that failed, he added, the union would seek a judicial review.

He blamed officials for refusing to meet the teacher in person and listen to his arguments. Calling the bureau's decision-making process careless, Ip said it should have monitored how the lesson was actually delivered rather than just looking at the lesson plan.

Lawmaker Claudia Mo Man-ching accused the government of trying to "brainwash and train the next generation into robots that won't say no."

Mo was speaking at a press conference joined by Ng Mei-lan, a member of the Progressive Teachers' Alliance, who questioned why the bureau took such an extreme approach to punish the teacher instead of sending condemnation letters or suspending him first.

Former chief executive Leung Chun-ying called for the teacher's name to be revealed as "parents have the right to know."

Officials should not evade punishing those involved in separatist and pro-independence actions although schools are supposed to enjoy independence in management, Leung said.

mandy.zheng@singtaonewscorp.com