Coronavirus: masks, lost progress and summer break among questions facing Hong Kong schools ahead of campus return
- Exams at some schools are being delayed to allow students time to catch up with curriculum after four months of online learning
- Parents, meanwhile, worry about supplies of protective gear and the pressure their children could face
Students may see their summer holidays shortened by up to three weeks – but be spared exams – under plans being fashioned at some Hong Kong schools preparing for the resumption of classes later this month.
Education minister Kevin Yeung Yun-hung announced on Tuesday that senior secondary school students would be the first to return to public school campuses on May 27, followed by younger secondary and older primary school pupils on June 8.
Third-year kindergarten (K3) pupils and younger primary schoolchildren are scheduled to resume face-to-face classes on June 15, while first and second-year kindergartners will not be returning this school year.
International schools, meanwhile, will be allowed to resume classes on May 20, due to their different curriculums and earlier summer break. The English Schools Foundation, the city’s biggest international school group, said its senior secondary students might return to campus in stages on or around that day, though a final decision had yet to be made.