School Boycott Plan Gets Mass Support: Organisers

A group which is planning class boycotts over the extradition bill said on Friday that their online poll has showed thousands of secondary school students will heed their call when schools resume next month.

The group, called Demovanile, said 19,473 students from 350 schools took part in their poll and nearly 50 percent of them said they will join the class boycott.

The group said almost 90 percent supported the ongoing agitations and one fifth said they will join the rallies after the class hours while other said they will support the agitation in different ways.

Zita Leung, a secondary school pupil and a member of Demovanile, said the poll results showed the strong feelings the students had about the issue.

Another organiser, Issac Cheng from the political party Demosisto, said the boycotts would take place once a week, indefinitely, and called on schools not to punish students for taking part.

At a media briefing held to announce details of their planned march on Saturday, the Professional Teachers’ Union backed the student action.

PTU vice-president Ip Kin-yuen said they will “respect and understand” if students decide to strike and asked schools to accommodate such events.

The Education Secretary Kevin Yeung said the government opposes a class boycott, as it affects the normal operation of schools and students' learning opportunities.

Writing on his Facebook page, the secretary said the actions will generate pressure among students, which could damage the harmony at schools.

Yeung said while he understands students may have different views on social issues, there are appropriate ways to express their views and students should be protected from political interference at schools.