Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung said the Education Bureau has helped some 20 public schools to install flag poles since August to facilitate the compulsory flag-raising ceremony starting next year.
Starting 2022, all schools will have to hoist the national flag every weekday and on specific important dates, including New Year's Day, the SAR Establishment Day, and the National Day. There will also be a flag-raising ceremony every week.
In a
Facebook post published on Wednesday, Yeung said that some schools in the city do not have flag poles installed or have the poles installed in less-than-ideal places, which is why the Bureau has helped some 20 public schools install flag poles since August.
He also inspected SKH Lee Shiu Keung Primary School in Lam Tin today, one of the schools that just had the flag poles installed, along with his political assistant, Jeff Sze Chun-fai.
Yeung continued that he was glad to see that students there have been rehearsing the flag-raising ceremony in a serious manner, an indicator of how much they value this etiquette.
The education minister described that values education is a vital part of the education system, including responsibility, national identity, and commitment. He believed the new arrangement of asking schools to hoist the national flag and students to sing the national anthem could help merge their studies into school lives.
He noted that education is more than just passing on knowledge and it should help students build up their identity and character. Yeung pointed out that the ceremony aims to improve students' recognition of the concept of country and their footing as a Chinese national by immersing students in a patriotic environment.
