Education Bureau ‘open’ to letting international and older students study while other pupils in Hong Kong begin summer early

Local and international school heads meet bureau officials to express concerns about summer break being advanced to March to free up campuses for Covid-19 fight

They say authorities were receptive to allowing international schools to continue with their schedule and older students prepping for university exams to keep learning online

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Schools will start their summer holiday in early March, with the break stretching until April 17. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Published: 8:30am, 24 Feb 2022Updated: 9:18am, 24 Feb 2022

International and senior students could be allowed to continue their studies online in March and April, when the rest of Hong Kong’s pupils begin their summer holidays under a timetable revised due to the Covid-19 pandemic, after school heads raised strong concerns over disruptions to learning.

Local and international school heads reported on Wednesday the likely concession following discussions with education officials, a day after Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor announced school campuses would be used for compulsory virus testing, isolation and vaccination.

To free up the much-needed space as the city combats a record-setting wave of infections, schools were told to hold their summer from early March until April 17. The last day of the school year will then be pushed back to August 12, while the new term will begin in September as usual.

Hong Kong pupils have been forced to learn from home for extended periods during the pandemic. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

The announcement stunned the education community, which argued the new timetable would add to workloads and disrupt teaching schedule.

Lau Chun-hung, chairman of the Hong Kong Subsidised Secondary Schools Council and a secondary school principal, said schools heads told the bureau on Tuesday that online classes were needed for Secondary Six students who were preparing to sit university entrance exams in April. He described the officials’ response as positive.

A number of international schools told their students and parents that they would urge the Education Bureau in a meeting on Wednesday to allow them to conduct online classes, with one proposing to cancel external exam arrangements if authorities rejected their request.

The schools told parents in notices that same evening that the bureau had agreed to give them flexibility with the learning arrangements.

Belinda Greer, chief executive officer of the English Schools Foundation, said the bureau was straightforward in its offer.