Patriotic education | Mainland youth groups issue policy targeting SARs’ students

The central office of the Communist Youth League and the secretary of the All-China Youth Federation recently issued a policy providing instructions to Mainland authorities on how to strengthen the patriotic education of students from the two SARs.
The policy specifically concerns students from Hong Kong and Macau who go to mainland China for exchange activities.
The policies clarified the basic principles of exchange activities for the SARs’ youth in the mainland, requiring educators to adhere to the orientation toward patriotic education throughout all activities, and enhance the national consciousness and patriotism of Hong Kong and Macau youth, while adhering to hierarchical classification, and considering different ages in doing so.
Organizers of the activities should carry out the exchange programs based on local conditions, and integrate standardized procedures with local actual conditions in order to ensure diversity of thought.
The policy closely supports education on Constitution and Basic Law, national conditions, Chinese history, and Chinese cultural education.
The policy includes three modules and nine special projects. The three modules consists of three aspects: the Constitution and Basic Law, national conditions, and Chinese history and culture.
There are three special projects for each module. Building a sense of national identity, a sense of rule of law and a sense of political awareness are the three special projects for the first module.
This module aims to help Hong Kong and Macau young people to deepen and enhance their knowledge and understanding of ‘one country, two systems,’ socialism with Chinese characteristics and the country’s governance system.
The national conditions education module covers three special projects: feeling the achievements of reform, understanding the national strategy, and perceiving the advantages of the system.
The modules are targeted to help Hong Kong and Macau young people understand the advantages, value and vitality of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics in a comprehensive manner.
In regard to the Chinese history and culture module, the three special projects are: experiencing traditional culture, feeling the red spirit, and enhancing local kinship.
These projects are aimed at helping the young people of the both SARs to fully understand the national spirit with patriotism at the core, and to continuously enhance national self-esteem and pride.