Hong Kong unveiled a digital education blueprint for secondary and primary schools on Wednesday, proposing 10 initiatives, including a push to integrate artificial intelligence into the curriculum, at least 30 hours of mandatory digital training for teachers, and over 50,000 digital training places for educators.
The Blueprint for Digital Education Development in Primary and Secondary Schools, released by the Curriculum Development Council, mapped out the city’s plan to integrate AI into its basic education.
“I expect the schools to swiftly take the next step in planning, meaning that within the 2026-27 school year, all publicly funded schools should officially incorporate digital education into their school development plans or annual school plans, establishing clear implementation timelines and strategies to let digital education take root on campuses,” said Isabella Poon Wai-yin, chairperson of the Curriculum Development Council.
The blueprint suggested local teachers complete no fewer than 30 hours of digital education training within a three-year professional development cycle, starting from the 2026-27 academic year, among their existing mandatory 150 hours of professional training.
Through the 10 initiatives spanning four areas — talent cultivation, teacher training, infrastructure and cross-sector collaboration, the blueprint aims to enhance students’ digital literacy and equip the younger generation to seize opportunities and meet the challenges of the digital era.
To ensure robust implementation, the Education Bureau will offer no less than 50,000 teacher training places annually over three academic years, aiming to enhance educators’ AI literacy and AI leadership capabilities.
This training will span three categories, focusing on foundational AI knowledge, the integration of AI with certain subjects, and AI leadership tailored specifically for school management teams, according to Edith Tse Yuen-ching, principal assistant secretary (innovation technology education) of the Education Bureau.
In the meantime, the blueprint proposes issuing the Guide to Using AI in Teaching in Primary and Secondary Schools as part of the effort to integrate AI into the curriculum.
A one-off grant of HK$500,000 was also disbursed by the bureau on Wednesday to all publicly-funded schools to launch a three-year AI for Empowering Learning and Teaching Funding Programme, to plan school-based AI-empowered education measures and organize AI teacher training courses covering various levels, providing comprehensive support for schools to implement digital education.
In a government statement following the release of the blueprint, Secretary for Education Choi Yuk-lin welcomed the document, saying it aligns closely with the bureau’s strategic planning to connect with the National 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) and the trend toward AI+ education.
“The blueprint, in conjunction with measures such as the AI for Empowering Learning and Teaching Funding Programme, will enable Hong Kong’s education to stay at the forefront of the times with a dynamic and forward-looking mindset,” said Choi.
“The restructuring of education in the digital age is a systemic transformation. We are not only focusing on hardware upgrades, but also actively promoting a deep shift in teaching and learning paradigms and comprehensively implementing AI education for students,” she added.
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