Cautions issued by organising commitee:

Civil Alliance Against National Education’s Statement on Ending Hunger Strike and Occupation of Central Government Office

– Government’s announcement shifts the responsibility for the subject onto schools
– Schools are susceptible to pressure from the government because of funding and external evaluations among other considerations
– [chief executive] C.Y. Leung warned people “not to interfere” with the implementation of the subject in individual schools but it is the government that has the most capacity to “interfere”
– The guidelines are only being “reviewed and revised”; no details on who and how this process will be carried out or what the timeline is

The Civil Alliance Against National Education said people power had forced the government to make concessions on the Moral and National Education Curriculum and described it as a partial victory for the people and for the movement against National Education.
Since Scholarism [a student group] launched a hunger strike outside the Central Government Office (CGO) on August 30, an accumulated total of 286,000 people have taken part in protests at “Civic Square” over ten days.
Leung Chun-ying announced amendments to the government’s policy: scrapping of the three year initiation period, promising not to mandate the curriculum as an independent subject within the term of this government, serious concerns remain.
The fact is the government is still only saying the curriculum guidelines will be reviewed and revised. We call for the withdrawal of the guidelines and for comprehensive consultations to be launched.
We urge the public to remain vigilant because a number of aspects of the government’s position remain unclear. The devil is in the detail. The alliance and other groups will continue to resist on various fronts and continue the struggle against national education.
The alliance called off the hunger strike and occupation of CGO at 01.30 this morning [9 Sept, same day as Legco elections start]. We understand some members of the public wish to continue their resistance by remaining at the square. However, we stress that “The Square is Everwhere!” . The movement has already awakened many people to the problem of national education.
A quarter of primary and secondary schools have already formed alumni and parents’ concern groups to monitor the implementation of national education in schools, and organize petitions.
We disagree with Leung Chun-ying’s fake withdrawal and need public support in the days ahead to build more Civic Squares in our communities and schools.
The alliance wholeheartedly thanks people from all sectors who have worked so hard for this campaign, especially those hunger strikers who put their health on the line, and the medical personnel who cared for them around the clock.
We firmly oppose national education , and will continue to call for a complete withdrawal.
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