Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced a few days ago that in response to the epidemic, the school's school schedule for this school year will be adjusted, and the summer vacation originally held in July and August will be released earlier than in March and April, so that all walks of life can concentrate on fighting the epidemic.
The government will use school buildings for universal testing, or for quarantine purposes or for students to be vaccinated.
Chu Kwok-keung, a member of the Legislative Council of the education sector, wrote to the Secretary for Education, Mr. Yang Runxiong, today (27th), expressing that the education sector was reluctant to accept the relevant arrangements, but reflected that the industry has many difficulties, such as the difficulty in handling the administrative issues of the school calendar, and the delay in knowing whether the school premises will be closed. Requisition etc.
Zhu Guoqiang.
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1. Outdated information on epidemic prevention guidelines and insufficient publicity
Zhu Guoqiang pointed out that the current "School Health Guidelines for the Prevention of Coronavirus Disease 2019" was updated and issued on November 30, 2021. However, after the guidelines were issued, the epidemic situation developed very rapidly, and many schools had confirmed cases of teachers and students one after another, and the content of the guidelines was seriously lagging behind. , the district director of the Education Bureau failed to provide accurate and timely information to the school's enquiry, which caused the school to be at a loss, and urged the Education Bureau to update the epidemic prevention guidelines as soon as possible.
Zhu Guoqiang said that although the government has produced an epidemic prevention information booklet for parents, the relevant publicity is insufficient. Many parents do not know that the government has provided relevant information. It is suggested that the authorities distribute the relevant information through the school to all teachers and parents in Hong Kong so that everyone can learn about it. Know the reporting procedures after diagnosis, guidelines for going out for medical treatment, details of applying for support materials, drug health information, etc.
Education Bureau Director Yang Runxiong.
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2. Kindergartens should flexibly allow online lessons in the face of major shocks
Zhu Guoqiang mentioned that it is reported that many international schools have recently proposed to the bureau that the early summer vacation will seriously disrupt the arrangements for exams and teachers and students returning home to visit relatives in summer, and the bureau will respond flexibly.
He believes that if the bureau decides to give international schools the flexibility to continue online classes after balancing the epidemic prevention and the difficulties faced by the industry, it should support kindergartens and child care centers even more.
He pointed out that in the face of the early summer vacation, kindergartens and child care centers will face a greater impact, which is bound to set off a new wave of dropouts. Kindergarten teachers will be forced to leave their jobs without pay, or even close down, which will affect the quality of kindergarten education. He urged the authorities to consider allowing kindergarten teachers and students Continuing to stay at home for online classes "will not cause the risk of spreading the disease, but also have the opportunity to reduce the financial pressure on kindergartens."
▼On February 22, Carrie Lam announced a number of epidemic prevention measures▼
3. Disrupting school calendars, contracts and supply teacher contracts
Zhu Guoqiang said that the school has generally paid attention to the school calendar and the arrangement of school activities. He believes that the government should provide clear guidelines to inform schools when the summer vacation starts and ends, and suggested that schools should be allowed to deal with various arrangements flexibly, including adjusting 190 The requirements of the school day, postponing the first grade test for Primary 5, the release of the ranking for Primary 6, the pre-entry test for Secondary 1, and the arrangement for registration in secondary schools, etc.
He also mentioned that many schools reported that the early summer vacation would inevitably disrupt the school’s administrative work arrangements, including the handling of contracts for contract teachers and monthly-paid substitute teachers, the arrangement of various tenders and contracts, difficulties in using time-limited allowances, and failure to meet deadlines. Completion of the QEF (Quality Education Fund) funding plan, etc. "At the same time, some schools have reported that it may be difficult to hire new teachers for the next school year. I hope that the Basic Law test can be handled flexibly and make up the test within one year after admission."
4. It is unknown whether the school premises will be requisitioned and whether it is necessary to return to the school on duty
Zhu Guoqiang said that regarding the requisition of school buildings for anti-epidemic purposes, the school is concerned about when the authorities will notify whether it will be requisitioned, whether school staff will need to return to school on duty, and whether teachers will be able to return to school to work.
Zhu Guoqiang hopes that the bureau can give clear guidelines and send school personnel to inspect the actual situation of the school premises in order to assess whether it is suitable for anti-epidemic purposes. The manpower arrangement and disinfection during the period should be borne by the government, and should be reported to the whole school in this school year and the next school year. Hong Kong schools provide epidemic prevention subsidies to strengthen school epidemic prevention and ensure the safety of school premises.
Epidemic ｜ Many international schools are expected to release the summer vacation earlier, according to the original schedule, the Education Bureau will push forward the special handling of the summer vacation. Yang Runxiong: The school building will be vacated to cooperate with the compulsory inspection of the whole people or the additional beds will be used as isolation facilities. Classes will be closed in March and April. Summer vacation DSE strives for the original 4.22 test
