Underutilized Curriculum: Learning “Ethics and Religious Studies” in Postcolonial Hong Kong

Hong Kong, a key Asian and global city, is academically recognized for its distinctive sociocultural and religious composition. Its entrenched religious education—apparent yet ambivalent, "Asian" yet "Western"—exemplifies this distinctiveness. Scholars have extensively studied its colonial account; however, post-handover curricular developments have unearthed theoretical gaps and under-addressed policy and practice complexities related to religion and education.

"Ethics and Religious Studies" (ERS) is an elective subject in the three-year senior secondary curriculum. This paper centers on the analysis of the ERS Curriculum and Assessment Guide, collaboratively developed by The Curriculum Development Council (CDC) and The Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA). In its design, ERS comprises three parts: compulsory "Ethics," elective "Religious Traditions," which includes five specific modules (Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Islam, Taoism), and elective "Faiths in Action," consisting of two options, "Learning to serve and serving to learn," and "Learning from religious practices."

The subject perceives the following aims:

1. acquire knowledge of the religion they study and of other major religions in Hong Kong;
2. make rational and informed judgements about religious and moral issues;
3. enhance their spiritual, moral, and social development; and
4. develop a positive attitude towards people and respect for their beliefs (CDC, 2019, p. 2).

Three editions of the ERS guideline (2007, 2014, 2019) were examined to evaluate and interpret the curriculum, prioritizing the latest version. The exploration of ERS reveals a curriculum striving to balance religious knowledge acquisition, critical judgment on moral issues, and respect for diverse beliefs. Yet, it simultaneously illustrates the complexities of engaging with religious plurality within an essentially secular educational framework. The curriculum's secular narratives and the constrained depth of religious discussions underscore the challenges of fostering genuine interfaith dialogue and understanding in a postcolonial context. The study reveals "Ethics and Religious Studies" as an inherently secular subject, while numerous secular narratives permeate the reviewed documents. However, religious plurality is somewhat conflicting in this case due to a limited reference to entire religious systems (e.g., Islam) despite its initial inclusion in the framework.