Coronavirus: Hong Kong schools to resume face-to-face classes from September 23

Pupils in the final two years of primary or secondary school, new starters at those levels and children entering last year of kindergarten will be first to return

Whether a school closes in the event of an infection will be decided on a case-by-case basis, according to education minister

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After months of online learning, Hong Kong students will be heading back to class – in stages – beginning at the end of September. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 2:14pm, 31 Aug 2020Updated: 11:28pm, 31 Aug 2020

Hong Kong schools can resume face-to-face classes in two phases on a half-day basis from September 23, the education minister has revealed, following a recent drop in the number of new Covid-19 cases.

Kevin Yeung Yun-hung said students entering Primary Five, Primary Six, Form Five and Form Six in the new academic year, as well as those starting primary or secondary school and final-year kindergarten pupils, would be the first back on campus.

They will be followed on September 29 by pupils from Form Two to Form Four, Primary Two to Primary Four, and kindergarten children in K1 and K2, the secretary for education said at a Monday press conference.

Schools have faced closures and major disruption across most of 2020 because of the global health crisis. Photo: Winson Wong

Yeung said schools would also be given flexibility, with pupils who needed to return earlier for activities such as make-up classes allowed to do so between September 16 and 22, provided the number of pupils on campus did not exceed one-sixth of the school’s total student population.

“As the local pandemic situation has improved recently, we believe it is now suitable to allow schools to start preparing to resume face-to-face classes in phases from late September,” he said.