Anti-mask Law Introduced In Haste: Headmaster

The head of a school umbrella group has accused the government of acting in haste with its announcement of the anti-mask law.

Teddy Tang, the chairman of the Association of the Heads of Secondary Schools, said on Saturday that the schools were forced to send out letters to inform parents when they weren't fully informed on the new law.

He added that the template provided by the Education Bureau didn't explain the regulation in full, and students weren't advised how to avoid breaching the law accidentally.

The Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, announced on Friday that she was invoking emergency regulations to impose a ban on face masks at all assemblies.

The Education Bureau wrote to schools urging them to tell parents and students they shouldn't wear masks or cover their faces inside or outside campus.

It said "as a matter of principle, students inside or outside of schools should not be wearing masks".

But it noted the new law, invoked under an emergency ordinance, exempts the ban on wearing face masks under certain conditions, like illness and religious reasons.

The letter also urged parents to remind their children not to wear masks when they go out and stressed that schools are not the place to express political views.