Resumption of classes｜Survey by the Principals' Association of Secondary Schools: 9 schools plan to conduct a full face-to-face inspection every two weeks and maintain 1/3 back

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Written by: Deng Yinglin

2021-02-09 16:11

Last update date: 2021-02-09 16:11

The Education Bureau stated that if the school arranges regular bi-weekly inspections for all teachers, schools with negative results can resume face-to-face teaching after the Lunar New Year holiday.

After the news came out, it caused heated discussions in the education sector. The Principals’ Association of Secondary Schools announced today (9th) that it collected opinions from the secondary school community on the new measures and received responses from more than 70% (338) of the secondary schools in Hong Kong. After that, no more than one-third of the students in the school will be arranged to return to school every day. Among them, only 9 middle schools plan to arrange regular inspections for the whole school’s staff to resume classes in the whole school.

Some school principals are worried about the full resumption of classes or increasing the risk of the epidemic, or affecting the conduct of the HKDSE. There are also many opinions that question the Education Bureau’s reflection of the decision not to amend the decision in many organizations. This is a "grind" to the school and brings administrative difficulties. Disappointed.

The Hong Kong School Principals Association stated that more than 94% of the surveyed secondary schools plan to arrange no more than one-third of the students back to school after the Lunar New Year holiday.

(Information Picture/Photo by Liang Pengwei)

Hong Kong secondary school principals will collect opinions on the resumption of classes after the Lunar New Year holiday from last Saturday (6th) to yesterday (8th). 338 secondary schools have received replies within 3 days, accounting for more than 70% of all secondary schools in Hong Kong.

Among them, 96% of secondary school principals reported that none of the schools that had previously provided the "Free Testing Service for Specific Groups of Coronavirus" provided by the Education Bureau failed to achieve 100% participation.

Regarding the arrangements after the Lunar New Year holidays, 94% of secondary schools stated that no more than one-third of the students in the school will return to school every day.

As for the arrangement of regular virus tests for the entire school's staff, so that the entire school can resume face-to-face classes, only 9 middle schools, about 3%.

82% of the secondary school principals interviewed bluntly stated that parents, staff and management have different opinions on whether to test the entire school.

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One quarter said they would consult the faculty

I was asked whether the school would understand the intention of the staff regarding the "additional options for individual schools" proposed by the Education Bureau?

Among them, 34% of the principals said they would not, 25% said they would conduct an intention survey, and the remaining 41% were unsure.

The survey found that most principals have multiple doubts about the "additional options" proposed by the Education Bureau. Among them, the most (89%) principals have doubts about whether 100% of the teaching staff can continue to be tested every two weeks; 85% have doubts. "Does the school have a legal basis to require faculty and staff to be tested?" 82% bluntly said "Parents, faculty, and management have different opinions."

There are also about half of principals "worried about increasing the risk of cross-infection on campus."

The DSE written test will start in April. Some school principals are worried that the number of people who will be taught in the school will be relaxed after the Lunar New Year holidays, or the risk of epidemics may increase, which will affect the conduct of the diploma test.

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Some principals worry about the full resumption of classes or affecting the conduct of the HKDSE

Based on the principal’s opinion, there are principals’ worries. The current opening of a full resumption of classes may increase the risk of cross infection, which will affect the subsequent Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE).

Disappointing that the school has become "grinding" and the administrative difficulties are not revised by the Education Bureau

Another principal believes that whether the campus can be reopened depends on the decision of the epidemic, rather than whether the staff is tested or not, and the risk of cross-infection among students is much higher than the risk of transmission to students from faculty and staff. Testing resources should be used in groups that need it, questioning education The bureau’s decision was unreasonable, causing the school management to "grind", splitting different stakeholders, and causing administrative difficulties. However, the bureau did not intend to make amendments despite the infeasibility of many groups, which disappointed the academic community.

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