Letters | Hong Kong’s Covid fight shouldn’t mean all work and no ‘fun’ for unvaccinated students

Readers discuss the decision to bar unvaccinated students from non-academic activities, how to teach spoken English better, why John Lee has a hard act to follow, and the demographics an aspiring chief executive should be reaching out to

Coronavirus Hong Kong

Letters

Published: 11:30am, 14 Apr 2022

Why you can trust SCMP

Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at [email protected] or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words, and must include your full name and address, plus a phone number for verification.

I am responding to “Hong Kong students, teachers will have to do daily rapid Covid tests when schools reopen” (April 11).

As a local secondary school teacher, I welcome the government’s decision to finally resume face-to-face classes without reservation. After all, students’ learning has again been disrupted during the fifth wave. Nevertheless, I have some concerns about the precautionary measures announced by Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.

It is reasonable to require staff and students to take a rapid antigen test every morning but I do not see the point in banning unvaccinated students from non-academic activities, including music and physical education.

In recent decades, Hong Kong’s education sector, including the Education Bureau, has been putting greater emphasis on whole-person development, which gives equal importance to the physical, psychological and social domains. When unvaccinated students are forbidden from taking part in extracurricular activities, what can they gain from schooling besides academic knowledge?

If we adults recall our past school days and put ourselves in students’ shoes, it is not hard to understand the challenges they have confronted in recent years. With sports days, class outings, graduation ceremonies and other school activities being called off due to the pandemic, students have experienced enough disappointment.

Playing safe might sound justifiable, but how probable is it that students will contract the virus if they maintain personal hygiene and avoid close contact with their peers and teachers during non-academic activities? Given that all students are only allowed to enter the campus when they test negative for Covid-19 and are required to wear well-fitted surgical masks, it is not very convincing that banning unvaccinated students from certain activities will minimise the risk of infection, as Lam said.

More importantly, prohibiting unvaccinated students from non-academic activities inevitably creates differentiation among students, with the vaccinated ones enjoying the “right” to have more fun. How would students, who have not received a minimum vaccine dose for whatever reason, feel about having to stand aside and being treated differently? Most children and teenagers, as they go through the stage of seeking peer recognition and acceptance, value interpersonal relationships and thus are more vulnerable to such stratification.

These “fun” yet non-academic activities not only constitute a crucial part of whole-person development, but also serve as a channel for young people to build rapport and unleash their potential beyond studies.

Policymakers and teachers need to think deeply from the perspective of students, who are indeed the major stakeholders in this proposal, because every child deserves healthcare protection, learning and play if they are to have a bright future.

Justin Chan, Chai Wan

Spoken English can be taught better, with technology

With the fifth wave subsiding, the Diploma of Secondary Education exams can begin on April 22 as scheduled. However, the English speaking assessment remains cancelled for the third year in a row. With little incentive for students to improve their spoken English, we call on the Education Bureau to make use of new technology to transform how spoken English is taught.

According to the bureau’s curriculum guide on English language education, teachers are expected to provide students with quality feedback as part of their formative assessment. The guide includes a feedback sheet on items teachers should focus on in assessing spoken English. But the bureau provides no further instructions or support on feedback provision.

To provide quality feedback on spoken English, teachers should record students’ performance for further evaluation, a strategy the bureau recommended in answer to our enquiries. To ensure more accurate and comprehensive assessment, teachers should also use online language processing tools such as Otter.ai to transcribe students’ speech. By examining the transcripts, teachers can identify areas of improvement and teach speaking by adopting strategies similar to when teaching students to write.

The cancellation of the oral exam could be a blessing in disguise as it highlights the need to assess students’ spoken English continuously at school. The bureau should promote the use of technology, including digital transcribing, so data will be available for school-based assessment.

Wang Lyu, Yihan Xu, Kowloon Tong

John Lee will have to heal divided city

John Lee Ka-chiu is destined to be Hong Kong’s next chief executive. He has a hard act to follow, but not in the normal sense of the phrase which implies that someone is so good that it is not likely that anyone coming afterwards will be as good. As Chief Executive Carrie Lam Yuet-ngor leaves behind a divided city, Lee will need to use his recognised skills of being practical and hard working and his upstanding character to good effect.

Hong Kong has been damaged and we require a chief executive who understands that we need time to heal, to breathe, to laugh and to recognise the depth of talent of our youth as we restore our home to the wonderful place we all know it can be.

Mark Peaker, The Peak

Chief executive hopeful must reach out to public

Should a chief executive hopeful only lobby the Election Committee, or the wider community?

In recent years, public trust in the government has been rather low. The announcement of the chief executive race, and Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s recent decision not to run for a second term, has left us all nervous and full of hope all the same, particularly as the election takes place under the watchful eyes of the central government.

Although this is a relatively closed election, with only 1,454 people eligible to vote from different sectors of society, does that mean the chief executive hopeful should only be lobbying those 1,454 people, or the wider society to regain the public trust that has been lost in recent years?

It is all well and good having a newly reformed electoral system that places patriots in charge – those who love the country, its culture, the national anthem and flag, and the rule of law – but a real patriot should, above all else, know, love and, more importantly, understand the people and their needs if they are really patriotic, instead of just being loyal to their own political interests. This would enable us to ensure that we take a leap forwards rather than backwards.

The chief executive candidate could go out and spend a day with people from different sections of society to truly understand them, rather than merely speak to those at the top of those sectors.

Lee Ross, Kowloon City