Parents given rules on weather safety
PARENTS should keep their children at home if bad weather threatens their safety, the Education Department said yesterday.
Even if the school has not been closed, parents have the right to let their children skip a day if conditions could affect health or safety.
Though parents are keen that their children get a good education, students will not be punished if they are kept home, said the Deputy Director of Education, Mr Robert Lo Chun-hang.
''Last year we had cases of parents hesitating to use their discretion,'' he said.
''We are telling schools to inform parents that they can decide whether to send their children to school when the weather is bad.
''Parents should not be afraid to use their discretionary powers and schools must not penalise those students whose parents keep them at home.'' School principals are also to be reminded, in an Education Department circular to be released next week, that although only the Director of Education or his deputy can order the closure of a school, they may shut a school if they believe it necessary.
Emergency teams of department officials have been established to advise parents and principals during severe weather warnings.
If students miss an internal exam because of bad weather, they must be allowed to sit it at a later date with no difficulties, Mr Lo said.
But all public exams are the charge of the Hongkong Examinations Authority (HKEA), which will make its own arrangements if there needs to be any rescheduling of papers.
''Students should not assume that if a class or classes are suspended that public examinations will be as well. They must wait for an HKEA announcement,'' Mr Lo said.
The emergency teams, which provide round-the-clock information to parents and principals when the weather might threaten school operations, are also called in when there is another form of alert, such as a housing estate having to be sealed off during a police operation.
Two sets of four education department officials are called to staff telephone lines when an amber rainstorm alert is issued by the Royal Observatory to government departments. Services detailed on the education hotline are also dropped to make way for recorded announcements of school closures.
The alarm system was completely overhauled after the Education Department was heavily criticised for failing to react quickly enough to torrential rainstorms last May.
Mr Lo said: ''The revised system provides timely advice to the public and ensures a high state of readiness in dealing with emergencies which may arise from heavy rainstorms.
''A separate warning system for rainstorms is now effective, so early precautions can be taken to protect life and property and minimise disruption.''
