Parents Worried About Class Resumption, Survey Finds

The DAB said on Friday that 65 percent of parents it polled do not want in-person classes for kindergartens and primary schools to resume later this month.

The political party received online responses from 8,389 parents and school principals of more than 271 kindergartens and 143 primary schools between March 23 and 29.

While 54 percent of the school principals who responded backed the scheduled resumption of face-to-face teaching, many parents were worried that their children may catch Covid when they return to school.

The government had said physical classes will resume on April 19 at the earliest.

If classes were to resume as planned, 69 percent of the parents believed that only vaccinated pupils should be allowed to attend in-person classes, the rest either disagreed or had no specific preference.

Seven out of ten parents believed that special arrangements are needed for unvaccinated children, such as requiring them to take rapid tests before coming back to school or letting them watch live-streamed classes at home.

The majority of parents and school heads agreed that schools should resume in-person classes in stages, with higher forms students going back to school first.

The DAB said the government should strike a balance between resuming physical lessons and protecting children's health.

It said authorities should allow fully vaccinated children to study while insisting on daily rapid tests and weekly PCR tests for other pupils.

One of the party’s lawmakers, Nixie Lam, said the goal is to buy time for more children to get vaccinated.

“A lot of them actually haven’t actually got vaccinated. I think we shouldn’t let the minority of the students affect the whole safety net for students’ health,” said Lam.

“That’s why we’re trying to suggest some intermediate solutions, such as using the [rapid antigen tests], before the vaccination rate becomes acceptable,” she said.

Rock Chen, another lawmaker from the party, said schools should provide more after-school academic support and mental health programmes for students once classes resume.

“After having been at home for such a long period of time, we would like to make sure they can keep up with their class work,” he said.

“There have been a lot of changes, or perhaps even disruptions. So I think, for students, especially for the younger aged, we should help them manage their emotions and help them develop their proper social skills as well.”