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Hong Kong suspended classes on February 3 when Covid-19 hit the city. Photo: Robert Ng

More than a third of Hong Kong teachers polled favour extending class suspensions beyond Easter break, while educators point to rising number of coronavirus cases

  • Some 40 per cent say their schools plan to shorten the summer break to make up for lost time
  • Union leader says unlikely that first batch of students can resume classes on April 20, given health concerns of parents amid infections

More than a third of Hong Kong teachers in a survey favoured extending class suspensions beyond the Easter holiday, while 40 per cent of them said their schools planned to shorten the summer break to make up for lost time amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The poll results, released on Thursday by the 35,000-member Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers (HKFEW), involved 625 kindergarten, primary and secondary school teachers. The government is expected by the end of the month to announce its decision on when classes should resume.

Some 900,000 students have been staying home, most with online learning in place, since classes were cut after the Lunar New Year holiday on February 3, as Covid-19 gripped the city.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor earlier said school would not resume fully before April 20.

(From left) Tang Fei , vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers; Wong Kam-leung, chairman and Wong Wai-shing, vice-chairman. Photo: Winson Wong

More than 80 per cent of teachers in the survey said their schools did not have enough masks to resume operations, and about 36 per cent supported the idea of extending the suspension beyond the Easter break, which is from April 10 to 13.

About 85 per cent of teachers said more time was used to prepare for online learning with many finding it difficult to interact with students, while 40 per cent said their schools intended to shorten the summer holiday.

Federation chairman Wong Kam-leung said he believed there were two possible scenarios depending on the health risks.

“One is that schools would resume in phases beginning on April 20, with secondary school pupils returning to campus first, followed by those in primary school and kindergarten. Another scenario is that all schools would further suspend classes beyond April 20,” he said.

A boy in a mask cycles past an empty school in Wan Chai. Photo: Felix Wong

Wong said if the blanket extension happened, many schools would require more changes to their teaching plans, for instance, delaying some examinations, as the schedule would be packed.

“After an extended school break, we expect to see different progress among students as some may be able to adapt better to [online learning],” he said.

Wong added that HKFEW had sourced 1 million adult masks from mainland China for secondary schools to purchase at cost price: about HK$3 per mask. These would be available as early as next week. Each school could purchase a maximum of 1,000 masks, or 20 boxes.

Elaine Kwan Shuk-ling, vice-president of the 100,000-member Professional Teachers’ Union, which represents about 85 per cent of educators in the city, said she believed it was unlikely that a first batch of students could return to campus on April 20 given the recent rise in the number of infections.

“The amount of imported cases has risen over the past few days, adding to the uncertainty of resuming classes [on April 20],” she said.

Coronavirus: how Hong Kong parents are coping as outbreak keeps schools closed

Kwan, who is also a kindergarten principal, said many parents were concerned about potential health risks if schools reopened, especially those with children in kindergarten.

Lin Chun-pong, vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Association of the Heads of Secondary Schools, said more than 40 principals surveyed by the association last week also held the view that senior secondary students should be the first batch to return if classes resumed, as they were older and could take better care of themselves.

Lin added that some secondary schools had said they would shorten their summer holiday by one to three weeks to make up for lost time, depending on the progress of online teaching during the suspension.

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