- The prestigious international school was going to offer students a chance to role-play activists in an event to be held this summer
- Institution points to little student interest and pandemic for why it was axed, but initiative did not sit well with some parents
A prestigious international school in Hong Kong has decided to scrap a summer-term programme that allowed students to role-play human rights activists after parents expressed concerns.
Harrow International School Hong Kong, located in Tuen Mun, issued a notice to parents in early March promoting a series of activities for prep school students that included one called "Amnesty International" that "will give pupils the chance to become human rights activists".
"Weekly activities will include writing messages of solidarity to refugees, appealing to government officials and heads of state, organising petitions or making awareness posters," read a school notice dated March 9.
It did not detail whether activities would touch on Amnesty International's research reports related to the months-long anti-government protests that said police had arbitrarily arrested protesters or its online educational resources about freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly.
Harrow's head Ann Haydon told parents on March 21 the school was aware of concerns some parents raised over programme.
"As the school is still closed due to Covid-19 and we have received only very little uptake for this (activity), we will remove it from our programme," the notice read.
Haydon clarified that the objective of the programme was to "train students to appraise the treatment of refugees around the world which is seen as 'unfair' with opinions formed around racism and discrimination".
Harrow sticks to its guns over switch to simplified characters
Haydon said the school partnered with various non-governmental organisations and had run successful collaborations in past years.
But Amnesty International Hong Kong told the Post it had not received any such request from Harrow, although it welcomed schools to use their online human rights education resources.
We respect academic freedom on campusAmnesty International Hong Kong
"We respect academic freedom on campus," the organisation said. "Schools have their autonomy to explore the human rights topics which they are interested in."
Its Hong Kong arm produces free education resources on issues related to human rights in the city and around the world, including the death penalty, refugees and freedom of expression.
The watchdog said it would follow up with the school and continue to facilitate human rights education in Hong Kong.
A Harrow spokeswoman on Monday only reiterated the previously cited reasons for cancelling the programme, but did not comment on whether it had initiated any collaboration with Amnesty International. Neither did it elaborate on what the parents' concerns were.
The Education Bureau said it acknowledged the school had followed up on the issue and the authorities would continue to provide professional advice.
"If schools have found any learning activities that are not conducive to student growth, they should stop them immediately or persuade students not to participate," it said in a statement, without commenting on the appropriateness of the activity.
According to Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, "education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms."
As the city's only international boarding and day school, Harrow has about 1,350 students who pay between HK$149,000 (US$19,220) and HK$203,000 per year.
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