Special arrangements for Hong Kong students to enter mainland China should be permanent, lawmaker says
- In spite of special arrangement students still struggle to cross border in time to start school
- Some worry that they will not be able to come back after Education Bureau urges students not to visit city if possible
A new special quota assisting Hong Kong students to study in mainland China should be made permanent, a lawmaker has suggested, as the government strives to boost the youth’s understanding of the Greater Bay Area and visits have become more frequent.
Lawmaker Kitson Yang Wing-kit told the Post that some students studying in the mainland worried that it would be hard for them to return to the city during winter holidays, after the Education Bureau said the special arrangements for them to cross the border recently would not be permanent.
“They even imagined they could not go back to Hong Kong in one or two years’ time under stringent Covid-19 travel restrictions,” he said on Friday, as the bureau had urged students not to go back to Hong Kong if possible after arriving on the mainland.
Earlier this week, the bureau announced that Guangdong authorities would include Hong Kong students going to Shenzhen or Zhuhai in a scheme launched last month that allowed people only with special needs to apply for “compassionate quotas”.
Students could apply online on or before Friday for the special arrangements to cross and attend mainland schools after the summer holiday, instead of having to compete for the 2,000 quota slots drawn daily through a lottery system.
An Education Bureau spokeswoman said as of 5pm on Friday, 855 students had signed up for the special quota and a total of 613 applications had been approved. They had earlier urged students to file an online application on Friday.
According to the bureau, Cathay Pacific and Hong Kong Airlines have added seven mainland-bound flights as part of the special arrangement, with destinations including Beijing, Wuhan, Nanjing and Hangzhou.
