Hong Kong cross-border students return to in-person classes after 3-year hiatus, ahead of official schedule
- Some students choose to begin class ahead of government’s schedule, which would exempt them from travel quotas, opting instead to return on first day of term
- PCR tests every 48 hours remain headache for families who hope authorities will soon announce exemptions
Hong Kong students living in mainland China returned to in-person classes in the city on Wednesday for the first time in nearly three years, with some hoping authorities would soon grant them exemptions from regular polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.
About 30 of the 200 cross-border students at Fung Kai No 1 Primary School in Sheung Shui reunited with teachers and peers as the second term commenced, with some travelling alongside parents while others made the trip on their own.
“Let us all welcome our cross-border students as they have not been here for three years. We finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. I would hug you all if there were no pandemic,” said Chu Wai-lam, the school’s principal, at the morning assembly attended by all students.
The first batch of cross-border students has returned to the city just weeks after the reopening of the border with the mainland in January.
The Education Bureau last Friday pushed back the scheduled return date by two weeks, announcing that cross-border students from secondary schools could resume face-to-face learning from mid-February, while those at primary school and kindergartens could return by the end of the month. These students would be exempt from current travel quotas.