The Education Bureau (EDB) today (November 30) issued a circular memorandum to all primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong, introducing the Values Education Curriculum Framework (Pilot Version) prepared by the Standing Committee on Values Education under the Curriculum Development Council (CDC). Schools are encouraged to build on their existing foundation and step up their efforts to foster the development of students' positive values and attitudes, in order to help them in facing opportunities and challenges in their studies, daily lives and growth with positive attitudes.
 
     A spokesman for the EDB said, "To foster students' development of positive values, attitudes and behaviours has always been one of the important goals of the Hong Kong school curriculum. The EDB has all along been adopting a 'multi-pronged and co-ordinated' approach, through continuously updating curriculum guides, developing learning and teaching resources, providing training for teachers as well as organising activities for students, and more, to support schools in promoting values education on all fronts. In response to the recommendation made by the Task Force on Review of School Curriculum in September 2020 on enhancing values education, the CDC set up the Standing Committee on Values Education and prepared the Values Education Curriculum Framework (Pilot Version) to provide schools with suggestions and examples for the planning of their school-based values education curriculum within and beyond the classroom, with a view to cultivating students' positive values, attitudes and behaviours.
 
     The spokesman continued, "The curriculum framework coherently links the four key learning stages from Primary One to Secondary Six. Building on the features and needs in students' stages of development, the framework lists the learning expectations on their attitudes and behavious in different domains (e.g. personal, family, community, national and global domains). Adopting the Chinese culture as the backbone, it provides schools with a comprehensive and systematic framework to promote values education.
 
     The major focuses of the curriculum framework include:

1. Adding "diligence" as the priority value and attitude on top of the existing nine priority values and attitudes (that is "perseverance", "respect for others", "responsibility", "national identity", "commitment", "integrity" , "care for others", "law-abidingness" and "empathy"), to equip students with virtues such as diligence, self-care ability, a sense of responsibility and perseverance, to contribute to their families, society and the nation;

2. Emphasising the necessity to nurture a sense of belonging towards the country from an early age, to help students correctly understand Chinese history, appreciate Chinese culture and traditional values, respect the national symbols and signs (including the national flag, the national emblem and the national anthem), and understand the importance of the Constitution, the Basic Law and national security, so as to cultivate a sense of national identity among students and help them understand their responsibility, as a Chinese, to protect their family and the country and to share joys and sorrows;

3. Further enhancing life education (including understanding the meaning of life, facing adversity and challenges with positive attitudes, respecting and cherishing life, realising one's goals and exploring the future);

4. Emphasising the learning elements of sex education (including self-understanding, good interpersonal relationships, self-protection, respect for and acceptance of others);

5. Cultivating media and information literacy among students so that they can process information from different media in a rational and responsible manner; and

6. Enhancing the learning elements of anti-drug education (including understanding of harm caused by drugs, building positive values for facing adversity and resisting temptation, building a positive attitude towards life and leading a healthy lifestyle).
 
     The spokesman said, "The curriculum framework also provides recommended strategies and resource support for schools' reference. Schools should make reference to the curriculum framework when holistically planning the school-based values education and organising related learning activities, and collaborating with different stakeholders (including teaching staff, parents and alumni) to promote whole school participation."
 
     The EDB will continue to provide schools with diversified curriculum resources and support, including curriculum planning tools, learning and teaching resources such as lesson plans on "life events", animations for values education, comics for moral education and exemplars of learning and teaching. Related professional development programmes for teachers and student learning activities will also be organised to support schools in holistically promoting values education. Meanwhile, the EDB will organise briefing sessions to introduce the contents of the curriculum framework to primary and secondary schools.
 
     The spokesman stressed that curriculum development is an ongoing process and the aforesaid curriculum framework is launched on a trial basis in the current school year. Through various channels, such as school visits, questionnaire surveys, focus group interviews, talks and workshops, the EDB will seek to understand how the curriculum framework is being trialed. The EDB will also invite some primary and secondary schools to share their implementation experience and reflection as reference for further enhancement of the curriculum, for full implementation in the next school year.
 
     For further details of the curriculum framework, please visit the EDB Values Education webpage (www.edb.gov.hk/en/ve).

Ends/Tuesday, November 30, 2021
Issued at HKT 12:28

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