Social News
Written by: Deng Yinglin
2020-08-18 07:30
Last update date: 2020-08-18 07:30As the epidemic continues, the new school year in Hong Kong has not started as scheduled. When primary and secondary school students continue to study at home, they must also have textbooks. However, cross-border students may face the problem of not having textbooks in the new school year.
Liang Zhiwen, chairman of the North District Primary School Principals’ Association, revealed that due to the current measures to deal with the epidemic, cross-border students cannot return to Hong Kong to purchase textbooks for the coming year; Value requirements. Each elementary school’s textbooks must be divided into 3 packages before they can be sent out, and the supporting documents must be attached to them. In addition, schools have reported that sending the textbooks to the mainland will also face the risk of being detained by the mainland customs. The final books It may not be delivered to students, making it difficult for the school to deal with.
He said that at the end of July, he had reported to the Education Bureau that he hoped that the Hong Kong government would negotiate with the Mainland authorities to establish a temporary official channel so that cross-border students would have books to study in the new school year. In response, the Education Bureau pointed out that it is recommended that schools distribute learning materials to students via the Internet, and that it will study how to provide more appropriate support and assistance to cross-border students.
Cross-border students may face the problem of having no textbooks in the new school year. (Profile picture)
The Secretary for Education, Yeung Run-hsiung, said last month that cross-border students involve government arrangements and a large amount of resources in the two places. It is expected that the next school year will only allow S4-6 cross-border students to return to Hong Kong to go to school. The bureau will discuss with the school how to assist the Chinese government. Three or less cross-border students. However, Liang Zhiwen, chairman of the North District Primary School Principals’ Association, said that cross-border students have no books for the new school year at any time, and they have reported to the bureau at the end of last month. But for nearly half a month, there is no news yet, and they worry that there will be no books for cross-border students in the new school year. .
Value and quantity restrictions for books sent to the Mainland
Liang Zhiwen explained that the mainland has requirements for imported books. The value of each book posting cannot be higher than RMB 800, and the number is limited. Taking the Fude Xueshe Primary School where he is the principal as an example, each student has textbooks, exercises and There are close to 30 homework books with a value of over HK$1,600. For safety reasons, each student's books must be divided into 3 times before posting, and each copy must be filled in with a declaration form and a book list.
He bluntly said that when sharing his experience with a friend school, he learned that the Mainland Customs had the opportunity to detain books for inspection, which meant that even if the faculty and staff had completed many administrative tasks, the students might not receive the books, which discouraged many schools.
In addition, it is reported that the mainland authorities will impose stricter regulations on overseas textbooks because some local textbooks are accused of being "sensitive." From the next school year, it is not advisable for mainland schools to directly use overseas textbooks, and the inspection of inbound books will be stricter than before.
The chairman of the North District Primary School Principals’ Association, Leung Chi-man, hopes that the Education Bureau and the Mainland authorities will coordinate an "official channel" to assist cross-boundary students to send books to the Mainland. (Profile picture)
The school has discussed with the booksellers to open the electronic version to students due to the involvement of overseas copyrights, so far no results
Liang Zhiwen said that in order to solve the textbook problem, many schools are negotiating special arrangements with booksellers, hoping that booksellers will open electronic versions to overseas students for class and review. However, the books used in each school are different, the books and booksellers are different and involve overseas The copyright issue requires additional time and manpower to follow up. No results have been obtained so far.
Liang said that even if booksellers are willing to help, it is difficult for elementary school students to learn effectively with e-books for a long time. Therefore, in late July, he has reported to the district director of the Education Bureau that he hopes that the Education Bureau and the mainland authorities will coordinate an "official channel" to assist cross-border students to transfer books. This book was sent to the Mainland, or the arrangement may require coordination of multiple departments of the two places and time-consuming negotiation. There is no news so far.
The Tsuen Wan Chamber of Commerce School arranged for cross-boundary students to receive textbooks for their relatives and friends in Hong Kong. (Provided by interviewee)
The Tsuen Wan Chamber of Commerce School arranges for cross-border students to be taken by relatives and friends in Hong Kong
. The Tsuen Wan Chamber of Commerce School in Tsing Yi, which also has cross-border students enrolled in, arranges for cross-border students to be picked up by relatives and friends in Hong Kong. The principal Zhou Jianhao pointed out that the school has about 180 cross-border students. It is estimated that about 45% of the overall students will not be able to return to school in September after the Education Bureau announced. It is expected that cross-border students from the Mainland will not be able to return to Hong Kong in the short term. Therefore, contact the bookseller to arrange book order for cross-border students. After the parents of the cross-border students remit and present the certificate, the head teacher will notify the booksellers on their behalf, and the booksellers will uniformly transport the textbooks to the school, and the school will then notify the relatives and friends of the cross-border students to pick them up at the school.
Zhou Jianhao explained that he has heard that there are restrictions on the quantity and amount of books mailed in the Mainland, and it is difficult for the school to send it on behalf of the school. Most of the cross-border students have relatives and friends in Hong Kong, so they can send them on their behalf. There are also arrangements for cross-border students to travel between the two places without quarantine. collar. He believes that most of the cross-border students in this school receive textbooks before the start of the new school year, and they can synchronize e-learning with local students. The school will keep in touch with cross-border parents to find out if they have other difficulties or needs.
In response to the enquiry of "Hong Kong 01", the Education Bureau stated that it is aware that schools have encountered difficulties in sending textbooks to cross-border students and is studying how to provide them with more appropriate support and assistance. (Profile picture)
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Education Bureau: Knowing that there are difficulties in sending textbooks to cross-border students, the
Bureau of Education replied that schools can distribute learning materials to students and cross-border students through the school website, email or social platforms. It is also known that the Education Bureau knows that schools are cross-border students The difficulties encountered in sending textbooks emphasized that cross-border students are also Hong Kong students. The Education Bureau will take care of their learning needs and is studying how to provide them with more appropriate support and assistance.
In addition, the Education Bureau pointed out that if publishing houses fail to deliver the purchased textbooks in a timely manner due to the epidemic, schools can contact parents and publishing houses according to the actual situation for appropriate response and follow-up. The Education Bureau and the Hong Kong Education City website integrate a lot of resources for schools, teachers, students and parents to browse and use.
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