China coronavirus: pressure mounts on Hong Kong Education Bureau to suspend classes after Lunar New Year holiday to safeguard students, teachers
- Parents, teachers and principals feel classes should be suspended for at least one to two weeks after schools reopen on February 3
- Earlier in the day, Macau government also extended holiday until at least February 10 for all schools except higher education institutions
Hong Kong’s Education Bureau came under pressure from parents, teachers and principals on Friday to suspend classes following the Lunar New Year holiday amid the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak after neighbouring Macau took a similar step.
The city’s two leading teachers’ unions have urged education officials to suspend classes for at least one to two weeks after most kindergarten, primary, and secondary schools reopen on February 3.
The Professional Teachers’ Union (PTU), which represents about 85 per cent of Hong Kong’s teachers, urged the bureau to extend the holiday until February 10.
The Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers also urged it to suspend classes for two weeks after the holiday to safeguard students’ and teachers’ health.
At Fung Kai No 1 Primary School, located in Sheung Shui near the city’s border with Shenzhen, about half of the 1,100 pupils come from mainland China. School principal Chu Wai-lam said the government should temporarily suspend classes if the coronavirus outbreak continued to get worse.