Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4
Following is a question by the Hon Stanley Ng and a reply by the Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin, in the Legislative Council today (May 27):
Questions:
There are views that Chinese calligraphy is an effective means of developing students’ writing and aesthetic abilities, cultural accomplishment and patriotic sentiment. However, primary and secondary schools currently lack a comprehensive calligraphy education system. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the specific measures currently put in place by the Government to promote calligraphy education at primary and secondary school levels, including relevant guidelines, resource support and activity programmes; how the Government assesses the effectiveness of such measures, for example, in terms of the level of student participation and the enhancement of their writing ability and cultural accomplishment;
(2) as it is learnt that the Mainland has progressively made calligraphy a compulsory subject in primary and secondary schools, whether the Government has, by drawing on the Mainland’s experience, studied the systematisation of calligraphy education and its integration into academic disciplines such as Chinese Language, Civic Education or Art, and its designation as a compulsory component with mandatory assessment and grading; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3) whether it has compiled statistics on the current number and proportion of primary and secondary school teachers who have received professional calligraphy training or possess relevant qualifications, and how the authorities determine the criteria for qualified calligraphy teachers; whether it will consider collaborating with higher education institutions in the Mainland, educational institutions, or calligraphy groups to establish a support system to promote the development and popularisation of calligraphy education?
Reply:
President,
Calligraphy encapsulates our rich cultural heritage and serves as an essential pathway for fostering students’ writing skills, aesthetic sense, cultural confidence, and patriotic sentiments. The Education Bureau (EDB) attaches great importance to calligraphy education. Throughout the primary and secondary schooling stages, the EDB systematically and progressively promotes calligraphy education through curriculum planning, development of learning and teaching resources, the organisation of diversified activities, and the provision of teacher training. These initiatives aim to cultivate students’ writing skills, enhance their Chinese character writing proficiency, and elevate their appreciation for the art of calligraphy.
Thank you for the Hon Stanley Ng’s attention to calligraphy education. The consolidated reply to the question raised by the Hon Stanley Ng is as follows:
I. Existing measures and effectiveness assessment
In terms of the curriculum, the Chinese Language Education Key Learning Area Curriculum Guide explicitly requires the arrangement of handwriting exercises at each key learning stage, coupled with diversified and appropriate handwriting activities with the use of hard pens and Chinese brushes. This aims to cultivate handwriting skills and habits from a young age, develop students’ proper handwriting posture and habits, enabling them to learn the structure, basic strokes and stroke sequence of the characters. Furthermore, through diversified teaching approaches and the integration of learning activities within and beyond campus, students are guided to learn and practise calligraphy in everyday life, putting calligraphy education into practice. In addition, the Visual Arts Curriculum Guide encourages schools to adopt a flexible curriculum framework to strengthen the learning and appreciation of Chinese calligraphy. Meanwhile, the Values Education Curriculum Framework (2026) emphasises the learning of Chinese culture, utilising calligraphy as an effective vehicle for fostering proper values and national identity.
To assist teachers in providing effective guidance for students in writing Chinese characters while nurturing their sense of appreciation for the art of calligraphy, the EDB has developed a series of resources related to the learning and teaching of Chinese characters and calligraphy (please see the Annex for details).
Regarding activity support, the EDB actively organises and supports different sectors in holding calligraphy events, such as supporting the Hong Kong Students Calligraphy Competition, which has attracted tens of thousands of entries over the years across the Chinese brush and hard pen categories for the primary and secondary divisions. Furthermore, the EDB participates in the national-level National Painting and Calligraphy Competition for Primary and Secondary School Students to enhance students’ cultural confidence. It also fully supports the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Students Calligraphy and Master Painting Joint Exhibition to showcase students’ artworks and promote cultural exchanges within the Greater Bay Area. In addition, aligned with festive occasions, the EDB organises calligraphy events such as the Calligraphy 1000 – Celebrating the Founding of the People’s Republic of China event, the Blessing Hong Kong activity and the Chinese Classic Sayings: Selected Famous Couplets Calligraphy Collection Activity. Moreover, a Chinese Calligraphy Grand Prize is featured in the Exhibition of Student Visual Arts Work organised annually to promote calligraphy education in a lively and diversified manner. In 2025, primary and secondary school students of Hong Kong successfully challenged the Guinness World Record for the Largest Pen Calligraphy Lesson, reflecting the positive outcomes of calligraphy education.
Furthermore, the EDB has provided a One-off Grant for Promotion of Chinese Culture Immersion Activities of $300,000 for each public sector school and school under the Direct Subsidy Scheme to help them further strengthen Chinese culture education. As shown in the questionnaire survey, schools have made flexible use of the grant to organise various activities on Chinese culture, including calligraphy learning and immersion activities.
As for the assessment of the effectiveness of calligraphy education, the EDB makes continuous evaluation with reference to the participation rates in competitions, school-based questionnaires, lesson observations, and students’ writing performance in the Territory-wide System Assessment. According to observations, schools in Hong Kong generally attach high importance to calligraphy education. They offer calligraphy lessons, and organise interest groups, competitions and exhibitions, cultural festivals, etc, as part of their school curriculum and activities to create an atmosphere conducive to calligraphy learning and actively promote calligraphy education.
II. Learning from the Mainland’s experience
In fact, there are regular exchanges and collaborations between the Mainland and Hong Kong in education, allowing both sides to learn from each other. We note that on the Mainland, a one-hour calligraphy lesson per week is allocated in the subject Chinese Language from Primary 3 to 6, and this is integrated into the arts curriculum standards. When learning from the Mainland’s experience, we carefully consider the differences in curriculum systems, lesson hours, and teacher qualifications.
Currently, primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong primarily integrate calligraphy education into the existing curriculum framework. Specific learning objectives for writing and calligraphy are delineated within the subjects of Chinese Language and Visual Arts. Schools implement and assess students’ calligraphy learning through diversified modes. Furthermore, being pragmatic and keeping pace with the times, we continuously deepen calligraphy education within the existing subject frameworks and encourage schools to promote calligraphy learning through formative assessments, including the application of artificial intelligence and the use of virtual museum collections to guide students in appreciating classical masterpieces, thereby elevating their aesthetic capabilities.
III. Teacher professional training, statistics on qualifications and co-operation with Mainland institutions
Currently, we do not maintain independent statistics on the number and proportion of primary and secondary school teachers possessing professional training or relevant qualifications in calligraphy. Teachers come from diverse professional backgrounds, and the enhancement of their calligraphy attainment is primarily achieved through personal professional development and in-service training. The EDB will continue to provide teachers with diversified training opportunities and encourage them to make good use of various community resources to master calligraphy.
We have been collaborating with educational institutions and organisations to promote professional exchanges among teachers and to arrange systematic learning of calligraphy education philosophies and methodologies for primary and secondary school teachers in Hong Kong. Notably, with the consent of Dr Sze Chi-ching, President of the China Calligraphers Association-Hong Kong Branch, we have uploaded the electronic version of “Shufa Xuexi Kecheng” (calligraphy learning programme) to the EDB intranet for teachers’ reference and use. Furthermore, the EDB has distributed physical copies of the book set, printed and donated by the Hong Kong Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (Provincial) Members Association, to all primary and secondary schools across Hong Kong to promote calligraphy learning. We also support the Integrated Development of Five Disciplines campaign to enrich students’ learning experiences. Looking ahead, the EDB will continue to deepen its collaboration with units such as the Institute of Curriculum and Textbook Research of the Ministry of Education and Capital Normal University to conduct training for calligraphy teachers. We will also capitalise on the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area platform to organise cross-boundary exhibitions, competitions, and teacher workshops to advance calligraphy education.
Conclusion
President, the EDB continuously promotes the popularisation and deepening of calligraphy education through multi-pronged approaches, including curriculum guidelines, resource support, extra-curricular activities, and teacher training. We will continue to listen to views from various sectors, optimise our measures in a timely manner according to the actual circumstances of Hong Kong while drawing on the Mainland’s experience, and further enhance students’ writing proficiency, Chinese cultural literacy, and patriotic sentiments.
Thank you, President.