It was established to "rally teachers to adopt the position of 'loving Hong Kong and the Motherland'", as part of China's united front work in Hong Kong's educational sector.

Former presidents, Jasper Tsang and Cheng Kai-nam, were also leaders of The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), a pro-Beijing political party.

Tsang and Cheng had built up relationships with pro-Beijing teachers and mobilized them to vote for DAB in legislative and district elections.

[4] The HKFEW is said to play a crucial role in mobilizing pro-Beijing teachers to vote for like-minded candidates in the education functional constituency in the legislative council election.

The HKFEW, through its Hong Kong Patriotic Education Services Centre [zh] which received an annual funding of HK$13 million from the government, produced a 34-page booklet titled 'Chinese Model National Conditions Teaching Manual [zh]' for schools which extolled the virtues of the mainland government under its one-party communist rule.