Students Should Get Own Quota For Mainland Trips: DAB

The government has been urged to introduce special cross-border arrangements for Hongkongers who will study on the mainland after the summer holiday.

The call was made on Tuesday by the DAB, which said it recently received over a hundred inquiries relating to the issue.

The party noted that there’s a daily quota of 2,000 for people to cross the mainland border, in addition to a "care corridor" for eight groups of people, including the elderly and students who have to take exams on the mainland.

But it said these places are not nearly enough for the large number of Hong Kong students studying on the mainland, adding that the government should gauge the demand and determine a separate quota for this group of travellers.

DAB lawmaker Rock Chen said that in order for students not to take up already limited quarantine hotel rooms on the mainland, they should be allowed to complete part of their isolation in Hong Kong.

“How about we use... quarantine stations or quarantine facilities in Hong Kong, and let them stay in a closed-loop environment for, let’s say seven days,” he suggested

“And then afterwards, we can transfer these students into the mainland, again, via a closed-loop arrangement, so we do not worry there could be any risk of infection,” he added.

The party also asked the authorities to include the parents or guardians of younger students in such a special arrangement.