Parents of students from St Francis of Assisi's English Primary School, in Shek Kip Mei, are unhappy about the school's decision to use e-textbooks in the forthcoming school year.
As part of the school's e-learning plan, all Primary Three students must buy an iPad for Chinese and English lessons. Poorer parents, worried by the financial burden, say they were not consulted.
Principal Lau Wai-ming told Ming Pao the school will not force students to buy iPads. Students can rent school iPads for HK$2,000 each a year and, after three years, will own the devices.
An iPad costs from HK$4,688 for a 32GB version to HK$5,488 for the 64GB model, but students will pay more if they rent a school version.
Lau said most students come from middle-class families that can afford iPads; only five families, so far, say they will not buy one. Students from poor families can still use paper textbooks, he said.
