The Education Bureau on Thursday released to primary and secondary schools the bureau’s national security education curriculum framework, which requires schools to prevent and stop activities that might contravene the National Security Law for Hong Kong.

In a statement, a bureau spokesperson said the schools must make sure that campuses are free of political and illegal activities in order to create a safe study environment for students.

The schools must make sure that campuses are free of political and illegal activities in order to create a safe study environment for students

Education Bureau spokesperson

Safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests is the constitutional duty of the Hong Kong SAR, and school staff and students are in it together with all Hong Kong people, the spokesperson said.

It’s the school’s responsibility to ensure that activities held on campus do not contravene local laws, including the security law, the statement read.

Schools must also help the students correctly understand the law and the concepts relating to national security to cultivate a sense of national security and law-abiding behavior among them, the bureau stressed.

The guidelines issued by the bureau also provide concrete measures and examples on how to carry out training for teachers and students on the issue, as well as how to follow up violations.

International and private schools are also required to follow the guidelines and assist their students, regardless of the students’ ethnicity and nationality, to correctly and subjectively understand the security law and the concept of national security, according to the bureau.

All schools must submit their respective work plans and report to the bureau, and use their discretion on other appropriate and befitting measures to enhance a sense of national identity among students.