Members of the Legislative Council (LegCo) Panel on Education, regardless of their partisan background, fired a collective broadside at what they call the government's neglect of Chinese history class in local schools, which has convinced many students to "opt out" from taking the course. The problem, they said, only exacerbates the younger generation's lack of knowledge about Chinese history and their nationality confusion. While it is easy to blame the government for anything and everything, one should know that the Education Bureau is not solely responsible for the demise of Chinese history as a school subject.

It is true the bureau is partly to blame for the sorry state the Chinese history class finds itself in today. A new guideline issued by the government to facilitate the transition of secondary education from two years to three in 2007 divided the Chinese history subject into three parts, making the course more complicated than before, such that students found it unbearable. People concerned about the new policy driving students away from the subject asked the authorities to correct the mistake, only to find their words fell on deaf ears. As if turning the subject into a huge headache for students is not enough, the education authorities have also made it optional. Little wonder more and more kids have chosen to give up or not take it to begin with.

The reality, however, is the government's approach to Chinese history classes is more closely linked to popular will than people realize. Businesses and parents in particular play a significant role in influencing the younger generation's attitude toward the subject. It is common knowledge nowadays that Chinese history majors in college will have a very hard time finding jobs after graduation, a rude reminder of just how useless Chinese history education is to the corporate mentality here in Hong Kong. With that being the reality of course most parents would tell their children not to "waste" precious time and energy on an "unimportant" subject like their own nation's history. This is despite the understanding that adequate knowledge about Chinese history goes a long way to adding depth and perspective in business strategizing.

The author is a current affairs commentator. This is an excerpted translation of his article published in Hong Kong Commercial Daily on June 4.

(HK Edition 06/05/2013 page1)