Hundreds of students at Tai Po Baptist Public School, which has been temporarily closed since Hong Kong’s deadliest blaze in decades, are finding their classes at two university campuses to be an eye-opening experience, educators have said.
About 300 senior form pupils are taking lessons at City University in Kowloon Tong, and an equal number from junior forms are going to the Education University of Hong Kong (EdU) in Tai Po.
The universities also offered classrooms to primary pupils and provided them with emotional support from December 1 to 12. The students normally attend Tai Po Baptist Public School, located opposite Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po. The campus has been closed since the November 26 inferno that claimed at least 160 lives.
They have adapted well to their new learning environment and the number of pupils missing classes remained low, according to teachers.
Siu Ting, principal of the Tai Po Baptist Public School, said the pupils had a better grasp of their future and had set goals after learning at CityU and EdU.
“I am so touched that a Primary One student said to her parents that she wanted to be a teacher in the future ... she has only studied in Primary One for three months,” Siu said, referring to a pupil taking classes at EdU, the city’s largest provider of teacher education.
“Even if it is only her dream, dreams can someday come true.”
Carol Chan Suk-yee, vice-principal of the school, said another pupil temporarily studying on CityU’s campus wanted to become a veterinarian after learning about the institution’s training programme.
“We teachers then take this chance to encourage them to study hard to pursue their goals,” Chan said.
While several schools in the area closed briefly following the blaze, they have all reopened except for Tai Po Baptist Public School, which is the one nearest to Wang Fuk Court, with the school supervisor earlier saying it pained the children to see the scene from the school.
Starting on December 15, its pupils will attend classes at Tai Po Government Primary School or NTWJWA Christian Remembrance of Grace Primary School in the district, depending on which form they are studying.
Principal Siu expected this arrangement would last at least until the end of the academic year. Exams scheduled for March would be cancelled, but Primary Six children would still have to sit for the internal assessment for admission to secondary schools.
