China's state media People's Daily and Xinhua News Agency published opinion pieces yesterday against the Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union (#HKPTU), calling it "a cancer that must be removed".
By the afternoon, the Education Bureau of the Hong Kong government announced it
that it is terminating its working relationship with the local teachers' Union.
The union responded to the opinion pieces by saying it has always promoted professional growth of teachers and advocating for their rights, giving attention to the development of the country and its people, as well as being "against Hong Kong independence".
The Education Bureau sent out a sternly-worded press release a mere half hour later, outlining its policy towards the Union:
-No further collaboration with the Union;
-No more meetings with the Union
-No consulting with the Union regarding education matters
-No processing of referred cases or topics of concern raised by the Union
The Bureau said that it would fully review its consultation groups, and would consider terminating the terms of any HKPTU members that hold committee positions or have other duties, and not recognize their status as committee members.
Furthermore, the government would be refused entry into the Bureau's office building or the Bureau's meetings.
Also, the Education Bureau will no longer recognize professional development courses hosted by HKPTU, and schools are not to count the Union's courses toward their teachers' professional development requirements of 150 hours in 3 years.
The Bureau further criticizes the union for its pro-democracy stance and activities in recent years, claiming that they are not in line with the professionalism of educators, even claiming that the Union is effectively no different from a "political group."
The government's spokesperson also criticized the Union for being actively involved in the matters with the Civil Human Rights Front and the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, as well as for "bringing politics into schools" by organizing teachers' strikes.
Founded in 1973, the HKPTU is Hong Kong's largest teacher's union with over 90,000 members. The other major union is the pro-Beijing Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers, which claims over 40,000 members, though some member categories are not required to be in the education sector.
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