ABSTRACT
As pointed out in the previous chapters, after the return of sovereignty to China, Hong Kong became a SAR of the People’s Republic of China in 1997, and a string of education reforms were introduced to improve the quality of education, by the first chief executive, Tung Chee-Hwa. The preparative work for the education reform started before 1997, and the reform blueprint was released in September 2000 by the Education Commission. It embraces a wide range of critical issues, including the focus of this chapter, civic education (used interchangeably with moral, national and civic education later). The education reform was triggered by two major challenges – first, the challenges from the emergence of a competitive, knowledge-based economy arising from globalisation, and second, the changing local political, social and economic contexts caused by the change of sovereignty. In addressing the first group of challenges, the HKSAR government introduced reform measures to nurture students to become competitive in the knowledge-based economy. In addressing the second sets of challenges, the HKSAR government was enthusiastic to demonstrate its strong determination and ability to bring about sustainable social developments to show that under the policy of “One Country, Two Systems”, Hong Kong would be governed more effectively and efficiently than under the colonial administration.
