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中 華 人 民 共 和 國 香 港 特 別 行 政 區 政 府 總 部 教 育 局 Education Bureau
Government Secretariat, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region The People's Republic of China
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14 February 2022
To: Supervisors / Principals of all Secondary Schools, Primary Schools, Special Schools, Schools offering Non-Local Curriculum, Kindergartens and Kindergarten- cum-Child Care Centres and Private Schools offering Non-Formal Curriculum
Dear Supervisor / Principal,
Continuation of Suspension of Face-to-face Classes for Schools in Hong Kong Since the latest epidemic situation is still very severe, the Education Bureau (EDB) announces that all kindergartens and kindergarten-cum-child care centres (to be referred to as ‘KGs’ thereafter), primary schools and secondary schools (including special schools and schools offering non-local curriculum), and private schools offering non-formal curriculum (commonly known as “tutorial schools”) in Hong Kong will continue the suspension of face-to-face classes and all on-campus activities until 6 March 2022.
Arrangements for Suspension of Face-to-face Classes
During the suspension of face-to-face classes, all schools should make the following administrative arrangements:
(i) schools and boarding sections (applicable to special schools) should remain open to look after students who need to return to schools because of the lack of carers to take care of them at home (not applicable to private schools offering non- formal curriculum), and schools should maintain adequate social distances amongst students and ensure the environmental hygiene of the school campuses.
Schools should arrange staff to be on duty to handle school affairs and answer
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parents’ enquiries. Schools should premise on the principle of making appropriate arrangement and avoiding crowd gathering at schools to reduce the flow of people in school premises and implement all the anti-epidemic measures.
In view that many districts are affected by the epidemic and operations under restriction-testing declaration and compulsory testing notices, and that the manpower of the school concerned may be affected and their students are not suitable to go out and return to schools, we appeal to schools to pay attention to the situation of respective districts and keep close communication with parents;
(ii) during the suspension of face-to-face classes, schools, in principle, should not arrange students to return to schools for any activities. If schools, after careful deliberation, consider that there are genuine needs to arrange the class levels of students sitting for the public examinations this year (e.g. Secondary Six students) to return to schools for essential learning and assessment activities for no more than half a day, schools should strictly put in place various anti-epidemic measures as stipulated in the “Health Protection Measures for Schools” issued by the EDB and the “Health Advice to Schools for the Prevention of COVID-19”
issued by the Centre for Health Protection;
(iii) during the above learning and assessment activities, schools should ensure that indoor spaces are well ventilated, and open windows and doors as far as possible to increase the fresh air supply;
(iv) during the suspension of face-to-face classes, schools should flexibly deploy various teaching modes and provide respective support to sustain students’
learning at home. When arranging online learning and related activities, schools should pay attention to the length of the lessons and remind students (in particular young children in KGs) to refrain from prolonged use of digital screen gadgets and give appropriate rest for their eyes for around every 20 to 30 minutes.
In principle, e-learning in the form of real-time online teaching is not suitable for KGs. That said, KGs can adopt other modes to facilitate children to continue learning at home and help them sustain their curiosity and motivation for learning. Students should also do sufficient physical exercises at home in order to maintain good mental and physical health;
(v) schools should, in accordance with individual circumstances, activate the established school-based contingency plans (refer to EDBC No. 9/2015 for details), adopt contingency measures and make respective arrangements (including adjustments to activities inside and outside schools, school bus services, etc.) during the suspension of face-to-face classes, and should keep close contact with the parents, etc.; and
(vi) if teachers, school staff or students are feeling unwell (even the symptoms are very mild), they must not return to school and should seek medical advice promptly so as to receive appropriate diagnoses and treatments.
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Arrangements for Assessment and Examination
In view of the latest epidemic development, the EDB has decided upon careful consideration that schools do not need to conduct the Primary 6 (P6) second term Internal Assessment (IA) or submit the scores for Secondary School Places Allocation (SSPA) 2022. The allocation band of P6 students will be determined by their scaled IA scores obtained at the end of Primary 5 and the mid-year of P6 (i.e. the same arrangement in SSPA 2020 for which the P6 second term IA was cancelled due to the epidemic situation). For further enquiries regarding SSPA, please contact the Liaison Officers of the School Places Allocation Section.
In addition, the EDB announced suspension of the Territory-wide System Assessment 2022. The EDB will discuss with the Hong Kong Examination and Assessment Authority on how to assist the school sector to understand the overall learning situation and will communicate with the school in a timely manner.
Implementation of “Vaccine Pass”
The implementation of ‘Vaccine Pass’ at schools will start from 24 February 2022, except for those who are granted exemptions, all school staff, persons providing on-campus services and visitors have to be vaccinated or otherwise they will not be allowed to enter into the school premises. The above measures will also be enforced during the suspension of face-to-face class. All unvaccinated school employees (except for those exempted) who cannot comply with the “Vaccine Pass” requirements will not be allowed to perform teaching or other duties online and off-campus, including arrangements to work from home. Schools should not grant approval for leave applications to such employees and no salaries should be paid by public money.
Schools should ensure that all the related persons comply with the “Vaccine Pass”
requirements on or before 24 February 2022.
Vaccination is the most effective way to protect against COVID-19 and reduce the risk of serious cases and fatalities if infected. The minimum age for receiving the CoronaVac vaccine (Sinovac vaccine) will be lowered to three years old starting from 15 February. In view of the severe epidemic situation in the community, the EDB strongly urges parents and schools to arrange eligible students to get vaccinated as early as possible to protect themselves. A high vaccination rate will help construct a more effective protective barrier and create favourable conditions for early resumption of face-to-face classes. The EDB will closely monitor the situation, take into account the advice from the health experts, and review the related measures in a timely manner.
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For enquiries, please contact the respective Senior School Development Officers / Senior Services Officers (Joint Office for Kindergartens and Child Care Centres).
Yours sincerely,
(Dr Verena LAU) for Secretary for Education
