Letters | Hong Kong must make return to full-day in-person school a priority
- Readers discuss the city’s failure to get children back in classrooms for the entire school day, the contrast between the stringent testing for arrivals at the airport and those already in the city, and the rules on items allowed to be handed in for prisoners
Children, the lowest risk group in terms of age, are disproportionately shouldering the consequences of social distancing restrictions. It has been almost three years that children have had their education – and consequently their social, mental and physical development – severely disrupted. Yet there is no road map to when local schools will fully resume.
It’s baffling that groups can eat unmasked in a restaurant and thousands can gather at a book fair or concert but children cannot spend the full day in school, even those who are vaccinated.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu rightly emphasises the need to follow science and the evidence is clear – several reports, including those from the World Bank, Unicef and Unesco, show the benefits and importance of in-person schooling. While online learning can sometimes be effective, it provides lopsided development, particularly among young or disadvantaged children, who cannot fully engage with screens.
Haphazard and insufficient face-to-face schooling will further drive unequal access to education and inequality of outcomes. I urge this government to make the resumption of full-day classes an urgent priority in our city’s return to normalcy.