No full-day primary school classes for Hong Kong because of ‘low Covid-19 jab rate’
- Lawmakers slam government for not providing clear timetable for primary schools to return to normal
- Half-day classes were putting working parents under pressure and making it harder for them to provide for their families, lawmakers say
Hong Kong education authorities on Friday rejected calls to resume full-day in-person classes at primary schools, saying the vaccination rate among pupils was still low.
But lawmakers criticised the government for not providing a clear timetable for primary schools to return to normal at a time when much of the rest of the city was doing so, arguing the prolonged spell of half-day classes had put pressure on working parents. Currently, primary schools and kindergartens can only provide half-day face-to-face classes.
In a Legislative Council panel meeting discussing anti-epidemic measures, lawmaker Lam Chun-sing urged authorities to offer a timetable for resuming full day in-person classes in all primary schools, suggesting it could be done gradually.
“Providing only half-day classes in primary schools over the past two years has really negatively impacted working parents,” Lam said.
Lawmaker Chow Man-kong said that whether parents could resume their “normal working mode” depended on when full-day in-person classes in primary schools would be allowed.
“Parents said they found it hard to work if there were no full-day classes and it affected the livelihood of their families,” he said, suggesting schools should receive funding to install ventilation facilities to reduce infection risks.
Legislator Tang Fei, also a secondary school principal, said: “To be honest, parents will not change their mind if they decide not to let kids get vaccinated. But we can’t just let primary school students go to school for half a day indefinitely.”