HKBU right to put on security course: Kevin Yeung

Education minister Kevin Yeung on Monday backed Baptist University’s decision to make students attend courses on national security, saying the move is in accordance with the security law.

The university announced earlier in the day that undergraduate students who enrol from this September will have to complete a national security course before they graduate.

Yeung said it is only reasonable for the university to introduce the subject, saying section 10 of the security law requires all universities and schools to promote national security.

“I think for the higher education sector, all the universities and education institutions, are using their own different methods to incorporate the national security education in their schools, so that their students could have a chance to learn more about national security,” he said.

Yeung added that the Education Bureau has been liaising with the sector to learn about changes in the student population, amid reports that thousands of school students have left Hong Kong as part of a new emigration wave.

“Hong Kong is a free city and people are free to choose whether they want to leave,” the education minister said, adding that officials will keep an eye on the situation.