ABSTRACT
Introduction This chapter reviews the nature of the relationship between education and politics in Hong Kong (HK) since the end of the Second World War. This period covers the final years of its status as a British colony and its subsequent emergence as a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from 1 July 1997. Inevitably the focus is on the role of the state and the extent to which, and purposes for which, it uses education as a political tool. The central feature of the constitutional politics of HK reflects its status as a colony insofar as its populace have not been able to decide who governs them. This decision was the prerogative of the British government in colonial times and the decision was effectively transferred to the PRC in 1997. HK is therefore, in marked contrast to the subjects of the other chapters in this volume, not a selfgoverning nation state. A corollary of this situation is that one of the core political functions of schooling promoted by nation states (Green 1990) – namely to foster a shared sense of national identity and patriotism – has not, until recently, been central to its role. Notwithstanding its colonial status, HK developed and has maintained since its retrocession to the PRC many of the key elements of a relatively open, tolerant and liberal society – most notably a free press, the rule of law, freedom of expression, an independent judiciary and a lively civil society. This juxtaposition of a lively and open civil society with a political context that, until a decade ago, was governed as a colony, and currently is governed as a satrapy of the PRC, has been the critical and ongoing feature that has shaped both the nexus between education and politics and the nature of the identity of its citizens.
