The Preface of Tension:
Counter-communist Educational Policies  

After WW2, the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang (KMT) and the CCP resumed. Before the CCP’s victory and the official establishment of the People’s Republic of China on 1 October 1949, the CCP had spread its influence on the Hong Kong local schools.

 

Alarmed by the “increasing communist infiltration into schools”, the British colonial government initiated the following counter-communist educational policies from 1948 to 1949. [1]

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The colonial government stressed that the investigation was not the “final solution” because it was difficult to obtain evidence of communist activities during the school inspection. Also, it was difficult for them to control all educational activities without “infring[ing] too greatly on common democratic practices”.  

 

In contrast, they believed that expanding and improving public education was a more long-term method. They thought that it could attract most Hong Kong pupils to study in public schools, and they could learn about the positivity of a democratic government instead of leaning towards communism. 

 

Most of the information above was taken from a secret report by the Director of Education Douglas James Smyth Crozier. It is a crucial document because it is a blueprint for the post-war development of Hong Kong education. These policies. These policies shaped public education in Hong Kong and paved the way for the provision of free compulsory education in the 1970s and 1980s.

 

More importantly, this document defines how the British government handled the communist threat in Hong Kong. The British government was aware that strict investigation and suppression would violate the principle of freedom of speech, so it planned to expand and improve public education simultaneously. Then, it could legitimise its colonial rule without eroding the ideal of liberty.

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[1] National Archive, FO 1110/121, ‘China: application of new publicity policy; communist infiltration into Hong Kong schools’; National Archive, CO 1045/95, ‘Hong Kong: correspondence with T R Rowell, ex-Director of Education’