Hong Kong News

Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Friday, Oct 04, 2024

Hong Kong students will be able to do 1-day trips to mainland China for subject

Hong Kong students will be able to do 1-day trips to mainland China for subject

Senior secondary students will be able to do a 1-day trip to the Greater Bay Area for revamped liberal studies subject.

Hong Kong’s education authorities will offer a new option of a one-day trip to the Greater Bay Area for senior secondary students to fulfil a compulsory requirement for a core subject to save them from having to stay overnight in mainland China, according to the minister.

But Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin said there would not be an exemption as requested by some education associations who said they did not have time to prepare and were concerned about the Covid-19 situation in mainland China.

The compulsory tours required for the revamped liberal studies subject – citizenship and social development – have not started since it was launched in the last school year because of the travel restrictions during the pandemic.

The Subsidised Secondary School Council on Wednesday welcomed the new arrangement and foresaw more schools would choose one-day trips.

Secretary for Education Christine Choi.

The minister said education officials would test the one-day route before school tours started in April to ensure it was safe and smooth, adding there should be sufficient time for schools to prepare for the trip over the next three months.

Choi said schools that opted for tours outside Guangdong could arrange them during the summer holiday.

“There is more than one year to go before the 2024 HKDSE [Diploma of Secondary Education] exams start. I do not see any reason they can’t complete the tours before then,” she said.

The new core subject for senior secondary students was introduced to replace liberal studies. Its syllabus focuses on national security, identity, lawfulness and patriotism. It was revamped following accusations that the curriculum was radicalising youngsters.

The current 50,000 Secondary Five students are the first batch to study the new subject since it was launched in the last school year. They are required to join at least one tour to the mainland.

Out of 21 possible routes and itineraries the bureau provided in July, eight lasted for two days, 10 for three days, one for four days and the rest for five days. Schools have submitted their choices.

Lee Yi-ying, chairwoman of the Subsidised Secondary School Council, said principals generally welcomed the new arrangement.

“I think more schools would switch to this one-day trip as it is a safe option,” she said.

Meanwhile, the minister said she was “optimistic” that when students living on the mainland resumed in-person classes at Hong Kong campuses, they would be allowed to present negative results from rapid antigen tests instead of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests as currently required by the mainland authorities for crossing the border.

But she said they still needed to finalise the details with mainland authorities.

Choi said they were also seeking to exempt the cross-border students’ parents or nannies from the need to compete for the quotas currently applied to other travellers.

She said a code-scanning system used by Primary One to Four cross-border pupils for immigration clearance at Hong Kong border checkpoints would probably be extended to all students, while the renewal of their travel documents would be expedited.
Cross-boundary passengers arrive at Futian Control Point in Shenzhen.


The government said the cross-border students, who have been attending classes online for nearly three years, were expected to be allowed back to campus after the Lunar New Year holiday.

Choi expected secondary school students to return to campus on February 1, followed by primary and kindergarten students in mid-February.

There are nearly 21,000 cross-border students and 25 per cent of them stayed in Hong Kong during the pandemic. Among those who live on the mainland, there are 7,000 secondary students, 13,000 primary and 900 kindergarten pupils.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Hong Kong News
0:00
0:00
Close
It's always the people with the dirty hands pointing their fingers
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Google reshuffles Assistant unit, lays off some staffers, to 'supercharge' products with A.I.
End of Viagra? FDA approved a gel against erectile dysfunction
UK sanctions Russians judges over dual British national Kara-Murza's trial
US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Political leader from South Africa, Julius Malema, led violent racist chants at a massive rally on Saturday
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
'I am not your servant': IndiGo crew member, passenger get into row over airline meal
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Spanish Citizenship Granted to Iranian chess player who removed hijab
US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell freezes up, leaves press conference
Speaker McCarthy says the United States House of Representatives is getting ready to impeach Joe Biden.
San Francisco car crash
This camera man is a genius
3D ad in front of Burj Khalifa
Next level gaming
BMW driver…
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
×