The Working Group on Patriotic Education under the Constitution and Basic Law Promotion Steering Committee (CBLPSC) held its first meeting today (April 29), with a view to harnessing collective wisdom and insights on the work strategy, direction and plan of implementing patriotic education.  
      
     The Chairman of the CBLPSC and the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, said, "The clear objective set down by the Working Group at today's meeting is to make patriotism with affection to our country and Hong Kong a mainstream core value in Hong Kong, enabling the spirit of patriotism to take root in society and people's heart such that members of the public would proactively and consciously safeguard national sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity.
      
     "On taking forward patriotic education in Hong Kong, the Working Group has set a clear direction, that is to dovetail with the Patriotic Education Law of the People's Republic of China, while at the same time adjust suitably having regard to the actual circumstances in Hong Kong. The Working Group will correspondingly tender advice on policy measures for effectively promoting patriotic education."
      
     Mr Chan emphasised, "Patriotic education is a long-term work that requires continuous and dedicated efforts. The Working Group will take into consideration the characteristics of different groups in society, and adopt diverse and appropriate methods to assist the CBLPSC in taking forward patriotic education in an all-round manner, so as to comprehensively establish and robustly promote the mainstream values characterised by patriotism with affection for our country and Hong Kong and in conformity with the principle of 'one country, two systems'."
      
     The Convenor of the Working Group, Ms Starry Lee, said that the Working Group would set up four sub-groups to carry out relevant co-ordination and research work in four aspects, namely school education; local community; history, politics, economy and culture; and media publicity. In addition, the Working Group will commence work in the following two areas:
      
     (1) To leverage the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China as an entry point with the theme of "Love our Country, Love Hong Kong, Love our Community", and work closely with government bureaux and departments to inject and feature the spirit of patriotism in different National Day celebration activities this year, with an aim to enhancing the awareness of patriotism of the whole society; and
      
     (2) To perform overall co-ordination and conduct research, including setting up a designated email address, patrioticeducation@cmab.gov.hk, as announced today on the Basic Law website and the website of the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau to invite all sectors of the community to offer views and suggestions on how to promote patriotic education more effectively. 
      
     Established earlier this month, the Working Group aims to co-ordinate the work of government departments and non-governmental organisations in taking forward patriotic education and dovetailing with the Patriotic Education Law of the People's Republic of China, with a view to enhancing education on our country's history, culture and current affairs on different fronts, promoting patriotism and ensuring its continuity from generation to generation. The membership of the Working Group comprises the relevant directors of bureaux, heads of departments and leaders from the relevant sectors of society.

Ends/Monday, April 29, 2024
Issued at HKT 20:02

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