Hong Kong Education Bureau says classes will be cancelled if red or black rainstorm warning issued from 5.30am to 8am
School principal says students might still be on way to school if warning issued close to 8am
The Education Bureau has given more details to schools about class suspensions when a red or black rainstorm warning is issued, stating in a circular that morning and whole-day classes would be cancelled for the day if such warnings were put out between 5.30am and 8am.
This comes about two weeks after the bureau announced that schools would be suspended all day if red or black rainstorm warnings were issued before 8am.
But it said classes would continue if warnings were issued after 8am.
The bureau also said then that a suspension would be made public at the same time that a red or black rainstorm warning was issued.
In the circular released on Tuesday, the bureau said that between 5.30am and 8am, students who had not left for school should stay home, and schools should implement contingency measures and arrange staff to look after students who had already arrived.
Raymond Lai Tsz-man, a principal and chairman of the Hong Kong Aided Primary School Heads Association, welcomed the plan to set an earlier timing, saying that “not many students would have begun their journey to school at around 5.30am”.
But he said the issue of “awkward timing” still existed, as there was always the chance of the Observatory issuing red or black rainstorm warnings close to 8am, when many students were already on the way to school.
The new arrangement was worked out between the bureau and the Observatory after heavy public criticism of the last suspension – announced when many students were already on their way to school – during a red rainstorm in May.