HONG KONG - Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Tuesday backed the Education Bureau’s decision to strip a primary school teacher of his registration, saying a thorough investigation showed the educator had used Hong Kong independence materials in his classes.

If even a tiny fraction of teachers use their position to convey wrong messages, to promote misunderstanding about the nation, to smear the country and the Hong Kong SAR government without basis, it is a very serious matter, CE Carrie Lam said

Lam made her remarks before the weekly Executive Council meeting, a day after the bureau confirmed the teacher was disqualified in late September after being found to have intentionally advocated separatism through self-designed teaching materials.

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Lam said this was the first time the Education Bureau has imposed such a penalty on a teacher.

Hong Kong’s government is duty-bound to safeguard the quality of education, Lam said at the briefing. If even a tiny fraction of teachers use their position to convey wrong messages, to promote misunderstanding about the nation, to smear the country and the Hong Kong SAR government without basis, it is a very serious matter, she said.

Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung said Hong Kong schools are no place for spreading talk of "Hong Kong independence" and the government will strive to remove teachers who promote such ideas to ensure teachers’ professionalism.

Speaking at a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Yeung said the first-ever decision to sack a primary school teacher for producing such teaching materials was made to safeguard the campus.

Hong Kong Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung briefs the media on Feb 14, 2020. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

The decision to revoke the teacher’s registration came after the bureau received 247 complaints of teacher misconduct relating to the anti-extradition incident since June 2019.

Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung said Hong Kong schools are no place for spreading talk of "Hong Kong independence" and the government will strive to remove teachers who promote such ideas to ensure teachers’ professionalism

Speaking at the same event, Deputy Secretary for Education Chan Siu Suk-fan said the former teacher at the Alliance Primary School Kowloon Tong had “intentionally and systematically” advocated “Hong Kong independence” among other separatism ideals to the 10-year-olds in class.

Yeung described the misconduct case as "serious and rare".

The Education Bureau will not be intimidated as it seeks to prevent the spread of illegal ideologies such as “Hong Kong independence” in the city’s schools, Yeung said.

He stressed that if the students raise related questions in class out of ignorance and confusion, teachers must clearly explain the constitutional order in Hong Kong under the Basic Law, i.e. the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is an inalienable part of the People’s Republic of China.

In a statement issued earlier on Tuesday, Alliance Primary School Kowloon Tong said the teacher involved has already left his position, and it is inappropriate for the school to make any comment on other matters in respect of the personal data involved.

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The school endeavors to ensure “political neutrality” on campus and will provide a suitable curriculum for students, according to the statement.

Former chief executive Leung Chun-ying has welcomed the EDB decision to deregister the teacher, saying it is the first time ever that a teacher has been deregistered for professional misconduct since the anti-extradition bill protests.

In a social media post on Monday, Leung also urged the EDB to disclose the name of a teacher found to have committed professional misconduct. “Since the Education Bureau did not reveal the name of the deregistered teacher, now every teacher at Alliance Primary School in Kowloon Tong becomes a suspect, is it fair to them?” he said.