The Characteristics and Logic of the Policy Evolution of Basic Education Digitalization in Hong Kong: An Analysis Based on Policy Text from 1997 to 2025

The digitalization of education has become a central agenda in global education reform. Since 1997, Hong Kong has accumulated extensive experience in the digitalization of basic education, offering a close-up window of observation for Chinese mainland. This study constructs a three-dimensional framework consisting of policy instruments, policy audiences, and policy objectives, through which 30 Hong Kong policy documents spanning the period from 1997 to 2025 are systematically coded and analyzed. The findings reveal that Hong Kong's policy evolution has progressed through five distinct stages: infrastructure accumulation, teaching integration, institution-building and universal access, emergency transition, and intelligent integration. The underlying governance logic has shifted from planning-led infrastructure construction to multi-instrument coordination; the action logic has moved from a school-based, closed advancement approach to an open, collaborative home–school–community network; and the value logic has transitioned from an emphasis on hardware construction toward the cultivation of digital literacy and the maintenance of educational equity. The study also identifies persistent challenges in policy implementation, including insufficient transformation of technology application, teacher overload during the emergency period, and a digital literacy gap that has yet to be fundamentally bridged. The core insights drawn from Hong Kong's experience are that the mix of policy instruments must be adapted to the stage of development, equity governance must undergo gradient elevation, and ecosystem construction must be anchored in its own institutional strengths. These insights contribute Hong Kong's wisdom to advancing the digital transformation of education.