Falling through the cracks: Hong Kong’s vulnerable pupils set back by months of online lessons at home during coronavirus crisis
- Students from low-income homes, have special needs or are from ethnic minority communities are groups at risk of falling behind, say educators
- More than 181,000 children living in poverty miss school facilities, interactions
“I don’t like doing homework at home,” said May, nine, a Primary Four pupil in Hong Kong. “In school, I could play with my classmates and have snacks during breaks.”
She and her younger brother, eight and in Primary Three, live with their mother in a 150 sq ft subdivided flat in Tsuen Wan. The ventilation is poor, and the kitchen and bedroom share the same space.
Their mother Ah Jing, 33, said the children had their own tablet computers – one borrowed from a community centre – but doing their schoolwork in their cramped home with its poor internet connection had not been easy.
“When both are having lessons at the same time, the brother is sometimes distracted and will eavesdrop on his sister’s lessons,” she said. “I also can’t start cooking when they are having online lessons, because the noise might disturb them.”
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She has noticed their school performance slide in some subjects over the months of online lessons, especially English language. But she cannot afford tuition for them, as the family is struggling financially.