For the past 150 years, the government of Hong Kong has had no clear-cut policy on the implementation of moral and civic education in schools. So far, the Education and Manpower Bureau (previously the Education Department) has issued two Guidelines for schools' reference: the 1985 Guidelines and the 1996 Guidelines on Civic Education in Schools. The 1996 Guidelines seek to prepare young people to be responsible and participating citizens. To understand how civic education is implemented in Hong Kong schools, in 1999-2000, a working group of the Hong Kong Institute of Education carried out case studies of five secondary schools of different background. The study focused on the following areas: aims, curriculum planning and information, deployment of resources and teacher training, problems encountered and conductive factors. The conclusion is that school tradition, consensus of teaching staff, teachers' attitude and cooperation, teacher expertise, teaching resources and students' attitude are the main factors affecting the effectiveness of civic education.
