Coronavirus: more than 70 per cent of Hong Kong teachers oppose resuming in-person classes from mid-April over infection fears, survey finds
- Of the 1,348 educators polled by the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers, 85 per cent say resumption should be based on daily number of infections
- Educators will feel the risk of infection is still high even if caseload is in three digits, federation chief Wong Kam-leung says
More than 70 per cent of Hong Kong’s frontline teachers are opposed to resuming in-person classes as early as April 19 amid concerns about infection risks in schools, according to a pro-establishment educators group.
Of the 1,348 educators polled by the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers between March 24 and 28, 71 per cent opposed the government’s plan to resume half-day in-person classes on April 19 following six weeks of an early summer break, while only 21 per cent supported.
A total of 85 per cent of the respondents said the resumption of face-to-face classes should be based on the daily number of cases.
Nearly half of the respondents taught in kindergartens, 40 per cent were primary and 12 per cent were secondary school teachers.
Hong Kong schools need 90 per cent student jab rate to resume full-day classes
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor last week said face-to-face classes would resume from mid-April, beginning with primary and international schools as well as kindergartens.
Secondary schools, which will act as Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) exam centres, will restart in-person classes after core subject assessments have been completed.
Education chief Kevin Yeung Yun-hung last Wednesday said whole-day in-person lessons could be resumed if 90 per cent of students of a school had received at least two vaccine shots against Covid-19.
While prolonged class suspension was said to have affected students’ learning and communications skills, and posed a threat to the survival of private kindergartens, the federation argued in-person lessons could only be resumed under safe conditions.
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Revealing the survey results on Tuesday, the federation’s chairman Wong Kam-leung attributed the high opposition rate to the potential risk of a Covid-19 outbreak in the school environment, with the daily number of reported cases still exceeding 7,000.
“The educators are worried about the protection measures in schools after in-person classes are resumed,” Wong said. “Teachers are thinking of the students and not about themselves as they are vaccinated and the inoculation rate for students is not that high.”
Wong said in-person classes could be resumed if the daily confirmed cases fell below 100.
“If the daily number of cases stands at the three-digit level, educators will feel the risk is still high,” he said, adding that conditions for class resumption should be based on health experts’ advice and the vaccination rate.
Recovered Hong Kong teachers ‘could oversee DSEs for Covid close contacts’
Nancy Lam Chui-ling, kindergarten principal and vice-chairwoman of the federation, urged the government to reveal the vaccination rates of three- to six-year-olds to allow educators to have a better idea of how many kindergarten pupils were inoculated. The government currently only posts the vaccination rate for those aged between three and 11 without any further breakdown.
Chow Wai-chun, president of the Early Childhood Educators Association, suggested resuming in-person classes in kindergarten gradually.
“The in-person classes for K3 could be restarted first and if they run smoothly, K2 and K1 could be resumed two weeks later,” Chow said.
Lau Chun-hung, chairman of the Hong Kong Subsidised Secondary Schools Council, said he believed secondary school teachers supported resuming face-to-face classes after the Easter holiday.
“The survey was conducted at a time when the number of Hong Kong’s confirmed cases was still close to or exceeded 10,000. Now it is different, I can say the teachers in secondary schools find it OK to resume in-person classes,” Lau said.
Hong Kong school heads call for special Covid measures to support DSE students
Meanwhile, with the DSE university entrance exams set to begin on April 22, nearly 80 per cent of teachers surveyed have suggested authorities set up special centres for infected candidates so they could also sit the exam.
Tang Fei, vice-chairman of the federation, said the right of a candidate to take the exam should be respected and invigilators should be given sufficient protective gear.
The federation also criticised the government for failing to issue guidance on resuming in-person lessons, such as the duration of class suspension should a student be infected and ways of handling any close contacts.
A spokesman for the Education Bureau noted there were varying views over school resumption and that it would make a professional decision to protect students’ health and take care of their learning needs.
The bureau also welcomed the federation’s findings, which suggested a majority of polled teachers back the idea of allocating designated places for infected candidates taking the DSE.
