Hong Kong students’ summer holiday to start on March 7, but international schools, kindergartens granted exceptions
- The move to bring the summer break forward is aimed at freeing up campuses for use as mass Covid-19 testing and vaccination centres
- Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s annual university entrance exams will kick off on April 22 as scheduled, with all candidates required to show negative rapid test results
Hong Kong students’ summer holiday will start on March 7, some four months earlier than usual, though kindergartens and international schools will be able to switch to online learning instead if they so choose, the city’s education minister has announced.
Kevin Yeung Yun-hung also said on Monday the Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE), Hong Kong’s annual university entrance exams, would start on April 22 as scheduled. Although the vaccine passport scheme will not apply to candidates, they will be required to show a negative rapid Covid-19 test result for every subject they sit.
The move to bring students’ summer break forward was prompted by the city’s surging fifth wave of coronavirus infections, and is aimed at freeing up campuses for use as mass Covid-19 testing and vaccination centres.
“We hope that the face-to-face lessons of kindergartens and primary schools can resume after the Easter holiday if the epidemic situation improves, while secondary school students can go back to their schools after the public examination,” Yeung said, referring to the DSE exams.
This year’s summer holiday will run from no earlier than March 7 until after the Easter break on April 22. The last day of the current school year will be pushed back to no later than August 12, while the next one will start on September 1.