Some elite primary schools were found to be teaching students with textbooks of higher grades to push their learning boundaries. A mother has to spend more time on homework for her Primary Two son, who attends a private school in Kowloon Tong as he is being taught in class with Primary Three textbooks. These parents are reportedly under increasing pressure as they have to revise classes with their children at home as teachers often skip chapters to speed up teaching and ask students to self-study them at home.

Monday, Apple Daily

Elderly newspaper vendor asked to move from stall after 60 years

An 83-year-old newspaper vendor who has been working for 60 years at her stall on Tai Ho Road in Tsuen Wan, near the MTR station, has been devastated by a notification from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department. It asked her to remove her stall within 90 days, giving no reason. The woman’s goddaughter, who runs the stall for her, said she speculated it was because the department wanted to help the shopping mall next to the stall extend an advertising billboard. The old woman started the stall in 1955 and was issued a newspaper vendor licence in the 1970s. She takes care of her mentally retarded son.

Tuesday, Ming Pao Daily

St James’ Settlement recognised as family-friendly employer

St James’ Settlement – a well-known non-governmental charity in the city – was the winner of the Family-Friendly Employers Award from the Family Council and the Home Affairs Bureau, thanks to its non-paid holiday scheme for employees. Under the scheme, which started in 2003, employees can take a leave of as long as 12 months for personal reasons such as taking care of relatives or joining the working-holiday scheme. They do not need to state the reason for taking the leave but the application must be made six months in advance so the charity can find a temporary replacement.

Wednesday, Ming Pao Daily

Government plan to boost population of Tung Chung

Tung Chung will have a population of 268,000 in 2030, according to a government plan to extend the district. Under a blueprint submitted to the Legislative Council by the Development Bureau, about 49,000 additional homes will be built in the district, 80 per cent of them on 130 hectares of land to be reclaimed from the sea. The first batch of 140,000 residents will move there as early as 2023, according to the plan.

Thursday, Apple Daily

More members of disciplinary forces cast votes after Occupy

Members of disciplinary forces, especially the police, have become more politically active in the wake of the Occupy protests last year. According to a poll by Apple Daily, the numbers of registered voters from quarters for disciplinary force members in each district saw an average of 47 per cent surge in the latest district council election. This was compared to the overall increase of 3.7 per cent in the total number of voters across the city. A pan-democratic camp district councillor in a Kwun Tong estate, where the number of votes from disciplinary force quarters surged nearly 80 per cent, said she had been confronted more than ever during her street campaigns for the recent district election.

Friday, Sing Pao Daily

Sha Tin, Kwun Tong and Yuen Long to become most populous districts

The city’s population might could grow to about 7.76 million in 2024 from the 7.24 million in mid-2014, according to a Planning Department report, with Sha Tin, Kwun Tong and Yuen Long set to become the most populous districts. The report also estimates the population in the New Territories will grow by more than 450,000 over the next nine years.

Compiled by Nelson Cheng