News
The 95th Anniversary of the September 18th Incident
Summary
This circular memorandum invites secondary schools (including special schools) to nominate Secondary 3 to 6 students and teaching staff (including principals) to participate in the captioned programmes. Relevant information will also be sent to schools via the “Fast Information Transmission System - School Messaging Module” (SMM).
Details
The Education Bureau (EDB) organises “The 95th Anniversary of the September 18th Incident──Mainland Exchange Programmes for Secondary School Students (2026/27)” (the Programmes). In line with the school curriculum, the Programmes aim to deepen students’ understanding of the September 18th Incident and the history of Japan’s invasion of Northeast China, and to commemorate the 95th anniversary of the event. They also provide different learning experiences for students to enhance their understanding of the history, culture etc. of the Liaoning Province, thereby enhancing their sense of national identity.
The EDB has commissioned service providers to organise two 5-day tours outside the Guangdong Province for Secondary 3 to 6 students. Please refer to Annex 1 (Chinese version only) for details of the Programmes and application procedures, and Annex 2 (Chinese version only) for the itinerary of respective tours and examples of their linkage with the curriculum.
Schools should proactively encourage students who have not joined any Mainland exchange programmes to participate in at least one subsidised Mainland exchange programme (MEP) in their primary and secondary stages. In addition, starting from 10 July 2024, non-Chinese citizens who are permanent residents of Hong Kong may apply for the “Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macao Permanent Residents (Non-Chinese Citizens)” from the China Travel Service Entry Permit Service Hong Kong Limited. Schools should remind eligible students to complete the application procedures soon so that they can use the E-channels at ports of entry for immigration clearance and need not fill in the Arrival Card when entering the Mainland, thus enhancing clearance efficiency. For details, please refer to the respective webpage (https://www.ctshk.com/mep/zh/nrep_notice_mep/).
Schools may apply for more than one tour in the 2026/27 school year. Schools interested to participate in the Programmes SY95 and SYFS may return the completed application form via the Common Log-On System (CLO) before the respective deadline. Late submissions will not be accepted. For details of the application procedures via the EDB “Common Log-On System”, please visit the “School Application” webpage on the “Passing on the Torch” website (https://www.passontorch.org.hk/en/enrol/index.html). Late submissions will not be accepted.
Starting from the 2024/25 school year, schools will receive the latest itinerary information and application details of MEPs for students via the SMM. The EDB will continue to issue individual Circular Memoranda on MEPs and adjust relevant arrangements based on actual circumstances.
Enquiries
For enquiries about the enrolment and itineraries, please contact the service providers. For general enquiries of the Programmes, please contact the Life-wide Learning and Mainland Exchange Section 2 of the EDB on 2892 6429 (for the trip of SY95) or 2892 6304 (for the trip of SYFS). For more information about MEPs, please visit the “Passing on the Torch” website (https://www.passontorch.org.hk/en/index.html).
For further details of the Scheme, please refer to the Education Bureau Circular Memorandum No. 126/2026. (Download)