Hong Kong protests: pupils shy away from class boycotts, but thousands champion anti-government demands in schools, forming human chains and wearing masks
- Strict school policies mean few skip lessons as planned, fearing punishment from head teachers
- But pupils from at least 100 secondary schools stage other forms of protest on Friday in week of school-based demonstrations
Students and alumni from at least 100 secondary schools formed human chains and wore masks during lessons on Friday as part of the anti-government protests gripping Hong Kong, but few boycotted classes as planned this week.
Protesting pupils said they were reluctant to skip lessons because most schools required a letter of parental consent, while some schools had strict policies deterring them from joining boycotts.
The citywide school action started on Monday at the beginning of the new academic year, with an estimated 4,000 students from secondary schools and 30,000 from universities joining rallies that day.
Some continued the action into the week by refusing to attend classes or by wearing masks and other protest accessories on school grounds.
On Friday, hundreds of students from secondary schools across the city formed human chains to call on Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s administration to meet all five demands of the anti-government movement, which was sparked by the extradition bill.
They said Lam’s announcement on Wednesday to withdraw the bill was “too little, too late”.