HONG KONG – Our Hong Kong Foundation (OHKF), a leading think tank, urged the Education Bureau (EDB) to issue clear and transparent guidelines to ensure all liberal studies textbooks and supplementary teaching materials have correct information and are unbiased.

In its latest policy research report released Monday, the OHKF said it had found teachers relying heavily for liberal studies courses on textbooks, quality of which varies and is often controversial. 

In its latest policy research report, Our Hong Kong Foundation said it had found teachers relying heavily for liberal studies courses on textbooks, quality of which varies and is often controversial

The think tank tasked Lingnan University with conducting a survey among more than 400 liberal studies teachers and 71 secondary school principals in the city. According to survey findings, about 87 percent of teachers said they mostly rely on textbooks, 79 percent said they referred to newspapers and magazines while nearly 40 percent said they referred to social media.

Using teaching materials without official oversight and information collected from social media may seriously affect the accuracy and fairness of contents taught in classes, the OHKF pointed out while releasing the findings at a press conference Monday.

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During the survey, about 83 percent of school principals stressed the need for the EDB to review liberal studies textbooks to ensure their objectivity and fairness.

In addition to vetting liberal studies textbooks, the government should issue guidelines so that other supplementary teaching materials could be reviewed, the think tank said in its report.

During the press conference, Wong Yuk-shan, president of the Open University of Hong Kong, expressed support for reviewing liberal studies textbooks, saying such a review is a common practice in countries and regions all over the world. 

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Noting that some media coverage could be potentially biased or even factually wrong, Wong said the aim of vetting liberal studies textbooks is to ensure accuracy and objectivity of material taught in classes and is not driven by political considerations.

Currently, liberal studies textbook publishers submit books for EDB review on a voluntary basis.