Parents and those people who care for the well-being of Hong Kong’s youngsters were able to breathe a sigh of relief when they heard Education Secretary Kevin Yeung Yun-hung’s assurance that unqualified school heads will be removed.

The education chief said in an interview last week that the government has the right and authority to relieve any school principal in Hong Kong deemed unfit for the job. He was answering a question from the interviewer regarding the fact that some local school principals have done little, if anything, to stop teachers and students from taking part in illegal rallies and criminal vandalism in the past seven months.

Police records show a shocking trend: Of the more than 6,000 people arrested, 2,393 have been students. More worrisome is that some 1,000 of those arrested were teenage students from more than 300 of Hong Kong’s 400-plus secondary schools, with the youngest arrestee being a 12-year-old boy.

The pernicious political climate, characterized by politicization and polarization, has undoubtedly played a large part in fostering discontent among youngsters. But, it is also true that quite a few educators, including teachers, heads of school and school managers, have failed to instill in their students those values cherished in civilized societies, such as respect for the rule of law, tolerance for different opinions, and pluralism. This explains why so many of our students have failed to settle disputes in a rational and lawful manner.

That many of our youngsters know how to vent their frustration and discontent only through vandalism and rioting attests to the gross dereliction of duty of their educators. Worse, some schools have become hotbeds of political propaganda that gave rise to radicalism. These schools have become bases to distort and ultimately corrupt the minds of young people. More outrageously, some unscrupulous teachers who allow their own political faith to override students’ well-being have egged them on or even personally led participation in illegal protests or other unlawful activities. So far, more than 80 teachers have been arrested.

When schools and teachers ignore their responsibilities to their students and their moral obligation to society, parents and taxpayers have every right and reason to demand proper punishment of the guilty parties by law. If teachers not only break the law but also encourage their students to do the same, it is the school management’s responsibility to protect the students by firing those teachers. If the heads of schools and universities harbor or even support the morally corrupted teachers, they should be fired as well, for the sake of public interest and the future of Hong Kong society. Let’s hope that not a single young soul will be poisoned anymore in our school.