How the curriculum implements National Security Education

Last updated: September 2026

The platform keeps National Security Education (NSE) separate from values education and builds it naturally into science reading, questioning and reflection on the foundation of the junior secondary science curriculum. This page explains the design principles behind it.

Core principle

Start from real questions with genuine scientific value, then show how they relate to security, the functioning of society, sustainable development and the country's scientific development — never force the idea of “national security” onto science content.

Curriculum design principles

Science learning first — NSE woven in naturally

Every reading passage first meets the junior secondary science curriculum and students' cognitive level; real cases then show how science and security connect. Students come to understand security topics through phenomena, evidence and causal reasoning — not by being handed conclusions.

Examples:

Science content	Real case	Security link
Biodiversity	Giant panda conservation	Ecosystems and conservation
Acid rain	Air pollution	Ecological impact and regional cooperation
Carbon cycle / greenhouse effect	Climate change	A risk shared by the whole world
Polar science	Changing sea ice	The global climate system
High-speed rail engineering	Transport systems	Keeping society running
Space technology	Satellites and space exploration	Research and technological development

2
Mapped to the EDB subject-level curriculum framework
Passages are designed against the Hong Kong National Security Education Curriculum Framework (2025) and the subject-level framework for science (S1–3), focusing on the learning elements relevant to junior secondary science:
- 3.5 Understanding the country's development and achievements in technology, the environment, ecology, health, aerospace and other areas
- 3.6 Understanding the importance of national security to people's safety, the country's major interests and sustainable development
- 3.9 Understanding the role of scientific research and innovation in the country and Hong Kong in safeguarding national security
Each passage records its security domain and curriculum mapping, so teachers can review coverage across the whole series.

A cognitive progression across year levels

Not every year level meets security concepts at the same depth — from concrete to abstract, from phenomena to systems thinking:

Level	Learning focus	Cognitive progression
S1	Exploring the country and the world	Science phenomena → recognising impacts → recognising research and conservation work
S2	Understanding the security around us	Science risks → ecological / resource impacts → societal and regional responses
S3	Thinking about the country's future	Complex risks → systems thinking → technology, governance and long-term development

4
NSE and values education are kept separate
The NSE reading series never assesses students' value orientations:
- National security education passages carry no values tags
- No question assesses whether a student holds, agrees with, or is willing to practise any value
- Reflection items only ask students to weigh the importance and meaning of the security topic itself
- Values education is handled by its own curriculum and reading content
National security education and values education are distinct curriculum domains. The two may connect naturally in the educational process, but the platform keeps them clearly separate in curriculum tags, question design and assessment logic.
Never a slogan in every passage
No passage ends with the words “national security”, and no abstract political concept is forced into science content. Students first understand: science phenomenon → risk understanding → impact analysis → response measures → long-term significance.
The overall picture of national security and how its domains interconnect is built through the series introduction, teacher materials and cross-passage learning — not by asking every passage to carry the whole of national security education on its own.

Platform → Curriculum → Learning

Platform layer

AI assistance, teacher oversight, data safety

Curriculum layer

Junior secondary science × NSE; framework elements 3.5 / 3.6 / 3.9; curriculum mapped by security domain

Learning layer

Science facts → risk understanding → systems thinking → long-term reflection

Design vision

Students start by “learning science”, gradually come to understand how science relates to security, society and development, and finally think about how the country and society face the future.

How the curriculum implements National Security Education

Last updated: September 2026

Core principle

Curriculum design principles

Science learning first — NSE woven in naturally

Examples:

Science content	Real case	Security link
Biodiversity	Giant panda conservation	Ecosystems and conservation
Acid rain	Air pollution	Ecological impact and regional cooperation
Carbon cycle / greenhouse effect	Climate change	A risk shared by the whole world
Polar science	Changing sea ice	The global climate system
High-speed rail engineering	Transport systems	Keeping society running
Space technology	Satellites and space exploration	Research and technological development

Mapped to the EDB subject-level curriculum framework

Passages are designed against the Hong Kong National Security Education Curriculum Framework (2025) and the subject-level framework for science (S1–3), focusing on the learning elements relevant to junior secondary science:

3.5 Understanding the country's development and achievements in technology, the environment, ecology, health, aerospace and other areas
3.6 Understanding the importance of national security to people's safety, the country's major interests and sustainable development
3.9 Understanding the role of scientific research and innovation in the country and Hong Kong in safeguarding national security

Each passage records its security domain and curriculum mapping, so teachers can review coverage across the whole series.

A cognitive progression across year levels

Not every year level meets security concepts at the same depth — from concrete to abstract, from phenomena to systems thinking:

Level	Learning focus	Cognitive progression
S1	Exploring the country and the world	Science phenomena → recognising impacts → recognising research and conservation work
S2	Understanding the security around us	Science risks → ecological / resource impacts → societal and regional responses
S3	Thinking about the country's future	Complex risks → systems thinking → technology, governance and long-term development

NSE and values education are kept separate

The NSE reading series never assesses students' value orientations:

National security education passages carry no values tags
No question assesses whether a student holds, agrees with, or is willing to practise any value
Reflection items only ask students to weigh the importance and meaning of the security topic itself
Values education is handled by its own curriculum and reading content

National security education and values education are distinct curriculum domains. The two may connect naturally in the educational process, but the platform keeps them clearly separate in curriculum tags, question design and assessment logic.

Never a slogan in every passage

No passage ends with the words “national security”, and no abstract political concept is forced into science content. Students first understand: science phenomenon → risk understanding → impact analysis → response measures → long-term significance.

The overall picture of national security and how its domains interconnect is built through the series introduction, teacher materials and cross-passage learning — not by asking every passage to carry the whole of national security education on its own.