Over the days before Hong Kong’s new school year begins, thousands of students and parents took to the streets to protest what they said was a government effort to “brainwash” the city’s children, the Wall Street Journal reported.

At issue is the government’s push for so-called “moral and national education,” which aims to promote a deeper sense of identification among local Hong Kong residents with mainland China, the paper said. Though the takeover from Britain to China in 1997, Hong Kong locals have at times continued to feel alienated from their mainland counterparts. The city maintains its own distinct political and economic system under “one country, two systems.”

Andy Tsoi, who was attending the protest with his 7-year-old daughter, told the paper that the government had failed to convince parents that “moral and national education” would promote a balanced picture of China’s history.

“They’re just giving us one side, but not everything is just good or bad,” said Mr. Tsoi. “You can’t use just one side to educate your children.”

While the government agreed earlier this year to delay plans for mandatory implementation of curriculum until 2015, it’s insisted that plans for moral and national education will continue to move forward, the paper said.

On Saturday night, an education bureau spokesman said the government would “continue to listen to the alternate views of different groups of people,” and that schools would be permitted to design and develop their curriculum on an individual basis, the paper said.