Hong Kong has the top-notch education system in the world, which has nurtured countless talents for the society, making it an international financial hub. Its success is due to the exam-oriented strategy in which students are spoon-fed to attain the academic accomplishment. By putting high proportion of resources into the academic sector, there is no sufficient support for cultivating students with all-round development, which makes them self-centred and have little knowledge of the outside world. To nurture our future pillars, civic education is an useful means to cultivate students with whole-person development.

First and foremost, civic education is a desirable way to help students develop a good sense of citizenship. Through the civic education, students are able to understand their rights and responsibility in order to make our society better. They are not solely an individual identity. They are the important members for the growth of Hong Kong. They need to have good understanding about Hong Kong’s merits and demerits. Voices can be made to make Hong Kong a better place as they have the responsibility for the present and future development of Hong Kong. Accomplishments academically are not their sole consideration, but a good sense of citizenship in their mindset.

Another reason to introduce civic education in Hong Kong is to help students develop better personalities. Through the civic education, its influence on students can be extended from the societal level to individual one. Their responsibility and care to the society can be applied when they interact with others. They also need to be responsible and caring to their friends and family. They can change from passive attitude to proactive behaviour. All these changes in development of people’s personalities are the merits of civic education.

In conclusion, to make Hong Kong a better place to live and encourage our future pillars to care about their surroundings, civic education is a good means to attain these goals. With the help of civic education, the future development of Hong Kong is surely better with the engagement of our citizens.

Cai Linzhe 6B
HHCKLA Buddhist Ching Kok Secondary School