2012-09-11  A strange name: "National Education"

Until a few months ago, I had never in my whole life heard of a subject called  "National Education". Unless my eyes are mistaken, Wikipedia's comprehensive article "Education" doesn't mention the term "National Education". Common in English are terms like "physical education", "moral education", "civic education", "health education"....but there's no  "national education".

The term "National Education" seems to have first appeared a couple of years ago, when the idea of this subject was originally proposed for Hong Kong. What "National Education" really means is "Mainlanding Education" or "Communist Education".

"National Education" is a fitting term for education in North Korea, or   Russia under Stalin, or Cambodia under Pol Pot, or Germany under Adolf Hitler....but not for Hong Kong, or China, in 2012.

I share the views of most teachers: the stated goals of "National Education" are already covered in other subjects. From their earliest years, Hong Kong students are taught about Chinese culture and history....and are encouraged to think for themselves. Hong Kong people already have a great love for and knowledge of Chinese culture and history. So there is plainly no need for a special subject called "National Education".  "National Education" makes as much sense as "National Chinese", "National English", or "National Mathematics".