Hong Kong parents, teachers and educators’ unions slam government for not suspending classes amid campus protest violence

Education Bureau rejects calls to suspend secondary and primary schools, as well as kindergartens, saying it is up to individual schools to decide

But city’s biggest teachers’ union says Chief Executive Carrie Lam put politics above student safety, calling her ‘irresponsible’

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Police fire tear gas as anti-government protesters hold a lunchtime rally on Tuesday in Central. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Victor Ting,Chan Ho-himandKathleen Magramo

Published: 10:35pm, 12 Nov 2019Updated: 1:21am, 13 Nov 2019

The Hong Kong government has come under fire from parents, teachers and trade unions for refusing to suspend classes in primary and secondary schools as citywide protests, work walkouts and traffic mayhem entered its second day.

But Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, speaking on Tuesday before an Executive Council meeting, defended the government’s decision, citing a “willingness and eagerness of citizens and students to go to work and school”.

“Protesters are attempting to paralyse Hong Kong to create a stalemate in the city,” Lam said. “The government cannot recklessly stop all activities in Hong Kong, otherwise it will fall into the protesters’ trap.”

Lam’s remarks brought strong condemnation from the Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union, which accused her of being “irresponsible”.

“Carrie Lam’s words show she has put politics above the safety and health of teachers and students just to send a message to protesters that she won’t yield to them by insisting it was business as usual at schools,” the union said in a statement.

All eight publicly funded universities, as well as Open University, Hang Seng University and the Vocational Training Council, suspended classes on Monday and Tuesday and announced that the suspensions would continue on Wednesday.