Opinion | Hong Kong’s repeated school closures will have a lifelong impact on children

The evidence is mounting of the long-term negative impacts school closures have on children, from delayed social development to depression and anxiety

By ignoring the pleas of educators, the government has shown it is willing to sacrifice the future of younger generations for the convenience of others

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Pupils at a kindergarten in Yuen Long take part in classroom activites on September 16, 2020, as schools reopened following months of shutdowns. Photo: Handout

Published: 6:45am, 11 Feb 2022

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” Benjamin Franklin’s words illustrate the value of experiential learning. But how can students be actively engaged in learning when studying online? How can they conduct a chemistry experiment or stage a play remotely?

Hong Kong has once again suspended in-person classes for students. In the past two years, face-to-face classes have been cancelled at least four times. Hong Kong’s four-month school shutdown in early 2020 was among the longest in the world. In the first five months of 2020, students only attended classes in person for 25 out of 152 days – just 16 per cent of the time.

School shutdowns have created what some are calling a crisis in education. They have also widened the education gap between upper and lower-income communities. As one of the most unequal developed economies in the world, more than one in five Hongkongers live in poverty before policy intervention.

The digital divide between rich and poor exacerbates the negative effects of online learning. According to the Society for Community Organization, a considerable portion of students from low-income families do not have computers at home and more than 30 per cent have slow or weak internet access.

Many disadvantaged students take online classes on a smartphone, and are embarrassed if classmates see their cramped living quarters, often with no desk. With no helpers, low-income parents either have to stay at home and risk losing their jobs, or leave children at home on their own.

Educators in Hong Kong are sounding the alarm that pupils are falling behind in their learning and social development, possibly irreversibly. Several head teachers have expressed their observations and concerns to me.