Wait-free passage for students

Sixteen designated student cross-border routes were set up at Shenzhen Bay Port yesterday to ensure smooth crossings as more than 1,000 mainland secondary students returned to Hong Kong for in-person classes for the first time in three years of Covid-caused online lessons.

None of the students, heading mostly to schools in Tuen Mun and Yuen Long, had to queue when crossing at Shenzhen Bay, thanks to the special student routes, Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin said.

"According to my observations at the immigration checkpoint the arrangement was very smooth," Choi said after checking the situation at a secondary school in Tin Shui Wai.

Choi said students can also go through immigration controls at e-channels, and she expressed confidence that youngsters will continue crossing the border smoothly when primary, kindergarten and special school students return to face-to-face schooling in Hong Kong on February 22.

Asked if authorities have plans to scrap the daily rapid test requirement for students, Choi said the Education Bureau will review the situation by month's end. She also reminded parents to apply for Hong Kong reentry permits for their children.

At the new Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai crossing, some students took special cross-border school buses that each carry 40 passengers. But they had to alight from the buses to go through immigration procedures.

Despite smooth crossings at all border points, however, some students were late for school because transport companies have yet to fully resume services to cope with increased numbers.

And other students did not take the daily rapid test because they could not find testing kits in the mainland.

Secondary five student Koweisa at a Fan Ling school who crossed at Lo Wu said she was excited but also nervous about dictation on the first day of in-person lessons.

"I think face-to-face classes help me to learn better, and I can do experiments at laboratories during biology lessons," she said.

But Koweisa said she had to adjust to the new nine-car trains on the East Rail Line and was surprised by them being crowded.

Another secondary five student, Ka-chun, said he had not interacted with classmates since he was in secondary two, and so he has to make new friends. "I don't know most of my classmates now," he said.

Veronica Yau Kit-ying, principal of Ka-chun's school, Fanling Kau Yan College, said cross-border students started their first day back in smooth fashion, though some had not been able to buy a rapid test kit.

"We know some students did not do the rapid test," Yau said. "So the school provided them with test kits and they were allowed to get into classrooms after the test."

One of the dozens of students on school buses that used the Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai crossing point said it was exciting to travel on the new route.

It had been restricted to cargo transport since August 2020 and only opened to regular travelers on Monday.

"It has been three years since I've been back to Hong Kong," the student added, "so I've never used this port."

Other students chose to take public transport after crossing the border.

"We have to get on and off the school bus at a fixed time, so I think it's more flexible if I take public transport instead," one said.

But parents worried that filling in the "black code" health declaration by phone from the mainland could be challenging for young children.

On that, Wong Ching-hong, president of a parents' association representing cross-border students, hoped authorities will accept printed health declaration forms.

Some parents still have not had family visas approved by mainland authorities, Wong added, so their children may have to cross the border alone.

eunice.lam@singtaonewscorp.com