Hong Kong schools welcome back pupils as Covid-19 rules eased to allow a third of student population on site
- Pupils return as schools given nod to open their doors to a third of students
- However, this year’s Territory-wide System Assessment – scheduled for between April and June – is scrapped because of the ongoing pandemic
Schools should make the most out of the rest of the academic year to focus on in-person teaching, an Education Bureau spokesman said. The citywide tests gauge pupils’ abilities in different subjects and was often blamed for leading to drilling exercises.
Students and parents, meanwhile, told the Post they were excited to be back at school after the pandemic had led to the suspension of face-to-face lessons from early December, with only a slight loosening last month to allow a sixth of pupils on site.
About 100 schools – mostly kindergartens – were planning to fully reopen on Monday, having further signed up to an Education Bureau condition requiring them to test staff for the coronavirus before lessons restart and every two weeks after that.