Hong Kong third wave: schools with cross-border pupils, kindergartens expect more dropouts amid suspension of face-to-face teaching
- More than 100 Hong Kong students living on the mainland have quit in the past school year, principals say
- Kindergartens find it difficult to conduct online classes for young children
School heads reported the trend on Wednesday as kindergarten operators and private tutorial centres called on the government to provide a fresh round of subsidies to compensate for the suspension of activities, as they feared the closure of more privately run institutions.
Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung announced on Monday that schools returning from the summer holiday might resume classes online, but face-to-face lessons would be suspended until further notice and the same applied to private tutorial centres.
Principals of schools with cross-border pupils – Hongkongers living on the mainland with their families – told the Post that more than 100 students had quit in the past school year and more were expected to do so after learning they were unlikely to return to campus in September.
Most of the city’s 27,000 cross-border pupils had missed out on face-to-face lessons for more than half a year after schools were closed from early February. Although local students were back on campus in phases in late May until the summer holiday, only about 2,500 senior secondary cross-border students were allowed to return to class in Hong Kong under quarantine exemption.