Letters | As coronavirus outbreak eases and Hong Kong teens prepare to go back to class, what about primary school kids?

If the Covid-19 outbreak is deemed sufficiently under control for schools to reopen, plans should be made for children of all ages to return to class

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A child wearing a face mask sits on the back seat of a bicycle on Cheung Chau island on April 12, over the Easter weekend. There’s no word on when Hong Kong’s primary school pupils might return to class. Photo: Reuters

Published: 8:15am, 1 May 2020Updated: 8:15am, 1 May 2020

Plans for Hong Kong schools to resume classes, reported in the media this week, include no mention of whether Primary One and Two pupils might be able to get back to school this academic year.

Hong Kong has done a superb job at managing this pandemic, but there is no justification for penalising younger children, or their parents, in this way. If the situation is now judged to be sufficiently under control for some people to cross the mainland border without quarantine, for offices to reopen and for classes to resume, then school should resume for all.

There is ample evidence on the vital importance of early years education, yet what is being proposed will deprive these young people of two-thirds of a whole academic year.

Teachers and parents have done a great job with remote learning, but there can be no doubt that engaging, learning and socialising in a classroom is optimal. These are not easy decisions to take, but it is now the right time for a staged return to school, for all of Hong Kong’s children.

Philip Cowley, Repulse Bay

Some still left behind in transition to e-learning

School has been suspended for weeks and most students, including me, have been attending online classes. Although I have completely adapted to e-learning, I know some students have had problems with their electronic devices and internet connection.

.css-sioo19{color:#c79a00;}Letters | As coronavirus outbreak eases and Hong Kong teens prepare to go back to class, what about primary school kids?

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} If the Covid-19 outbreak is deemed sufficiently under control for schools to reopen, plans should be made for children of all ages to return to class

Letters | As coronavirus outbreak eases and Hong Kong teens prepare to go back to class, what about primary school kids?

If the Covid-19 outbreak is deemed sufficiently under control for schools to reopen, plans should be made for children of all ages to return to class