Hongkong's Education Bureau (EDB) issued a circular on February 4, instructing that "Safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests is the constitutional duty of the HKSAR. This is also the common responsibility of all Hong Kong residents (including school staff and students)." It directed that "Schools should review as early as possible and devise appropriate measures in respect of planning and management, staff management, and other relevant areas to facilitate students' effective learning. ... schools should ensure all school staff ... abide by the law and observe the code of conduct acceptable to the society; step up the prevention and suppression of teaching or other school activities that are in breach of laws, prevent and deal with political or other illegal activities from permeating schools; and help students gain a correct understanding of the National Security Law and the important concepts covered by national security ... thereby nurturing them to become good law-abiding citizens." The circular specified also that "national security education is a part of, and inseparable from, national education. The fundamentals of national security education are to develop in students a sense of belonging to the country, an affection for the Chinese people, a sense of national identity, as well as an awareness of and a sense of responsibility for safeguarding national security. Hence, national security education is not confined to learning the provisions of the National Security Law ... ." It has also added a three-hour "Supplement: National Security" on top of the existing 15-hour standalone module on "Constitution and the Basic Law" at the junior secondary level. For primary schools, a new audio picture book "Let's Learn about National Security" has been produced.
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