Economic and Public Affairs (EPA) is a subject taught in the junior forms of most

secondary schools A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, either as a separate subject or as a component of combined humanities or combined social studies. The subject is concerned with helping students to develop a basic understanding of economic and political issues, of the economic and political foundations of Hong Kong society, and of their responsibilities and rights as

citizen Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

s and

consumer A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or uses purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. T ...

s. In many ways, it is similar to Civics courses which are taught in many other countries, but the syllabus content is almost entirely related to local Hong Kong topics.

Topics

Topics covered in the EPA syllabus include the following: Form One: *

Rights Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical the ...

and duties of Hong Kong residents *The status and immigration rights of Chinese and Non-Chinese, permanent and non-permanent residents *The Demographics of Hong Kong * Transportation in Hong Kong Form Two: *The Basic Law of Hong Kong and the concept of

One Country Two Systems "One country, two systems" is a Constitution of the People's Republic of China, constitutional principle of the People's Republic of China (PRC) describing the governance of the special administrative regions of China, special administrative r ...

. Hong Kong's

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ...

and the Chinese Government's

sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

. *The structure of the

Hong Kong Government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government, refers to the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong Special administrative regions of China, ...

*Law and Order in Hong Kong * Hong Kong's Legal System and Judiciary *

Education in Hong Kong Education in Hong Kong used to be largely modelled on that of the United Kingdom, particularly the English system. Since 2012, the overhaul of secondary school diploma has introduced changes to the number of school years as well as the two-t ...

Form Three: *

Consumer A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or uses purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. T ...

education *The development and features of the

economy of Hong Kong The economy of Hong Kong is a highly developed free-market economy. It is characterised by low taxation, almost free port trade and a well-established international financial market. Its currency, called the Hong Kong dollar, is legally issue ...

*Hong Kong as a

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...

and

finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

centre *Visible and invisible trade *Problems faced by industry and their effect upon

employment in Hong Kong This article gives detailed information on the employment situation in Hong Kong. Overview Hong Kong has an area of 1,106 square kilometres and a population of about 7,191,503 . Despite its small size, Hong Kong is currently ranked the 15th la ...

*The government's role in the economy *Function and responsibilities of

mass media Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit information ...

Options after completing EPA

After studying EPA in Forms One to Three, students who wish to continue exploring the themes covered by the subject can opt to study Economics and Public Affairs and Government and Public Affairs for their HKCEE and HKALE examinations, and to complete the Liberal studies later in Forms Four to Six for the HKDSE (Some secondary school start it earlier - At Form One or Form Two.)

External links

Hong Kong Education Bureau
Education in Hong Kong {{HongKong-edu-stub