Education was the minimum qualification acceptable to Education Department.
Although it appeared that less time was being devoted to purely propaganda
exercises and indoctrination was being tied in more closely with normal class-.
work, examination results were again disappointing.
Extra-Curricular Activities
42.
Indoctrination through formal classes is supplemented by other activitics
designed to raise the political awareness of the students and, in some instances of
their families also. Special celebrations are held to mark developments of note in
China such as the Chinese Communist Party Congress, China's nuclear test and the
launching of a space satellite by China. In addition to these special occasions
there are of course the annual celebrations of the C.P.G. National Day in which
students from the communist schools play a major role staging dramatic performances
for other communist organisations in addition to holding their own functions.
43.
Discussion meetings, at either class or school level, are a frequent
occurrence in the schools to which guest speakers from some other sphere such as
trade unions, the press world or business are invited. Speeches invariably attack
the Hong Kong Government, favourite themes being "the appeasement policies" and
the "slavish educational system". These attacks were particularly vehement at the
time of the first Festival of Hong Kong which the local communist movement saw as
a direct attempt by the Hong Kong Government to subvert the loyalty of youth from
their Motherland and to encourage them to identify themselves with Hong Kong.
One teacher described it as an attempt by the Hong Kong British to "hide their
ugly faces and bloody harus and to win cheap popularity with the masses, partic-
ularly with the young people".
44.
Over the past two years the communist schools have sponsored exhibitions
designed to demonstrate the progress made by the students in their political
studies. On display were essays, cartoons and models made by students to demonstrate
their understanding of MMO's work. More recently, visits to trade unions and other
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