Hong Kong to Add AI Lessons to Primary School Curriculum

Hong Kong will introduce a new technology subject in primary schools from September 2028, according to the South China Morning Post. The provisional draft framework from the Education Bureau covers artificial intelligence, coding, robotics, engineering and digital literacy.

Pupils will have one 35 minute lesson a week from Primary One to Primary Six, with at least 28 lessons per grade and 168 in total. The subject will begin with Primary One and Primary Four in the school year starting in 2028, with full implementation planned for the school year starting in 2030. Schools that are adequately prepared may fully implement it from the 2028 to 2029 school year.

Primary Two pupils will learn basic AI concepts and hold simple conversations with AI systems under teacher guidance. Primary Five pupils will write structured prompts, while Primary Six pupils will design and compare prompts for different tasks. Older pupils will also study generative AI, hallucinations and biased results.

AI and computational thinking and coding will each account for 41 of the 168 lessons. The draft says schools should guide pupils to see AI as an auxiliary tool and avoid over relying on it to the extent of outsourcing their thinking. The subject will not count toward the internal assessments used for secondary school placement rankings. Teachers can give their views on the draft through a survey by December 2.