Hong Kong primary school pupils shown graphic video of massacre, as Carrie Lam confirms it was on syllabus

Video showed piles of corpses, including those of babies, as Japanese soldiers executed residents of Nanking

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said that the video was a part of school teaching material checklist (AP)

Primary school students in Hong Kong were left in tears after they were made to watch graphic videos of the Nanking massacre, sparking concerns from parents.

But officials of the city-state have distanced themselves from the footage and said that the administration has left such matters to the education sector.

Confirming that the video was included in the curriculum, Hong Kong’s chief executive Carrie Lam said: “While learning history is of paramount importance, how to learn is something that we will defer to the education sector, because we have very well-trained teachers, we have well-run schools.”

China on Monday marked the 84th anniversary of the Nanking massacre, in which Japanese soldiers killed thousands of civilians and disarmed soldiers in the ancient Chinese capital city. Nanking is now commonly known as Nanjing.

During the brutal massacre, which spanned from December 1937 to January 1938, Japanese soldiers were accused of several atrocities, including mass killings and rapes.

The Po Leung Kuk Hong Kong Taoist Association Yuen Yuen primary school showed the video last week to its students, some of whom were as young as six. It was prompted by the Education Bureau’s directive to local institutions to run commemorative activities ahead of the anniversary.

The clip reportedly showed piles of corpses, including those of babies, as Japanese soldiers executed residents of Nanking during the second Sino-Japanese war. Local media reported that students were left in tears and many parents complained about the violent documentary being shown to young children.

On Tuesday, Ms Lam said that the violent video was a part of school teaching material checklist. She said that the education department had the duty to inform schools of the materials available publicly but there was no strict mandate asking that the footage be shown to children while teaching them about the massacre.

The school said it will consider the feelings of children in future and adjust teaching material accordingly.

China’s history is a compulsory subject included in Hong Kong school syllabi. The administration has said that children will also be taught about national security, a year after the city implemented a controversial national security law sparking major protests.

Additional reporting by agencies