Hong Kong to teach AI in a new technology subject for all primary schools from 2028

Hong Kong's Education Bureau has set out how artificial intelligence will enter the primary school timetable. On October 30 it sent primary schools a draft curriculum framework for a new subject, Information and Innovation Technology, according to local outlets including DotDotNews, the Hong Kong China News Agency and on.cc.

What the new subject covers

The draft organises the subject into five learning strands: information technology concepts and applications; computational thinking and programming; an introduction to AI; basic engineering and robotics-related technology; and technology and society. Local reports say the AI strand is meant to explain how AI systems work and how they are governed, and to look at their effects on society. The bureau also frames the subject around digital literacy, including media, information and AI literacy, alongside human-machine collaboration and responsible use of technology.

The subject becomes part of every primary school's curriculum from the 2028/29 school year. It starts with Primary 1 and Primary 4 and extends to further grades year by year, although schools that feel ready may introduce it across all levels at once or run a pilot in 2027/28. The bureau suggests one lesson a week, with at least 28 lessons, or 16 hours, per grade each year, which adds up to 168 lessons over the six primary years.

Assessment and teacher preparation

The subject will not count towards the graded internal tests that feed into secondary school allocation. Instead, teachers are expected to rely on learning portfolios, displays of student work and continuous assessment. Examples cited in the reports include designing simple games or interactive stories and completing programming projects.

To prepare staff, the bureau plans a training base for primary IT teachers, a 15-hour professional certificate course, a learning community and new teaching resources. Curriculum briefings are scheduled for November 13 and 16, and reviewed textbooks could reach the recommended list in early 2028. Lam Wai-lim, a senior curriculum official, explained the framework in a column for the bureau.

Context and open questions

The framework builds on earlier work. In July the bureau issued a trial strand titled Preliminary Study of Artificial Intelligence for primary schools, as part of the same curriculum framework. The documents reviewed do not say which existing lessons will make room for the new subject, and the framework remains a draft, so details may still change before 2028.