Hong Kong schools will reopen today following a two-day closure caused by Typhoon Mangkhut’s ravage of the city.
After two days of cleaning and maintenance work, the Education Bureau issued a statement that classes will be able to resume, adding that schools that wish to extend the closure will require advice from the bureau’s regional office. Teachers, parents and students will need to be informed.
Schools should also refrain from punishing pupils who do not attend classes or are late due to transport issues, the bureau’s spokesperson added. Parents thus may choose to keep their children from attending school if they feel the situation is still too dangerous.
On Monday, Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung voiced his opinion that it was “still too early” to say if schools would be able to reopen by Tuesday. There were reports of road blockages due to fallen trees and other obstacles at a large number of locations in the city.
A teachers union, the Federation of Education Workers, had urged the government to extend the class suspension into Tuesday as more than 40 schools had reported extensive damage to their campuses. Some were as extreme as auditorium floors being blown apart.
The bureau offered financial help to subsidised and government schools to attend to the repairs, reported the South China Morning Post.