Editorial | Hong Kong’s cross-border pupils require our support
- Such children will soon be returning to school in the city after a three-year, Covid-induced absence and will need to readapt
After three years of a bitter struggle with the coronavirus, the scenes of long-separated family members, lovers and friends reuniting at the reopened border with the mainland have offered hope on the way forward. But many pupils, who attend school in Hong Kong but are currently stranded on the other side of the border, are yet to benefit from the resumption of quarantine-free travel with the city.
Authorities must speed up preparations for the return of these children, taking into account lessons learned in the initial phase of opening up.
It is good to hear that the educational needs of an estimated 18,000 children have not been forgotten. Under a government plan, they are expected to return to local schools after the Lunar New Year break.
This should give schools and parents enough time to prepare following a three-year hiatus.
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What was it like travelling from Hong Kong to mainland China as the border reopened?
Unlike travellers who are subject to a daily quota and prior online registration, such children will be exempted. “We understand that the needs of cross-border pupils are different from others and so they would not be required to register online beforehand,” Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan Kwok-ki said.