By Farah Master

HONG KONG, (Reuters) – Emily Kwong (30), an insurance agent is having trouble homeschooling her 5-year-old daughter. She is concerned that she may not have learned enough because of Hong Kong’s COVID-19 regulations. This has forced many toddlers and teenagers to take online classes.

Kwong stated that plans to shut down schools in March by the government are now “disturbing all year.” He also spoke out in support of parents and teachers who worry about the mental health and education of their children in this global financial center.

Kwong explained that she was just using the Zoom for two years. Next year, she’ll be in Year 1 and will not have learnt anything from the previous two years.”

Stress and anxiety are a major concern for many kids, as they miss out on friends and learning opportunities.

The kids are devastated. They are broken. A teacher from an international school said, “We’re just trying to carry on,” as they are not allowed to address the media.

Hong Kong has adopted a similar strategy to that of mainland China to eliminate any virus outbreaks. It is not trying to manage the disease but rather to prevent them from spreading. Daily infections have risen by around 70% since February and are now a major problem for the public health system.

Carrie Lam announced Tuesday that all students would be allowed to begin their summer vacations in March. It was a surprise decision.

Belinda Greer (CEO of the English Schools Foundation, which employs 18,000 students in 22 schools), said that she will meet Education Bureau representatives.

She stated, “This clearly is an extremely difficult development and a major disruption to our work.”

Holiday break runs until April 17th. The last day of school will be moved back to August. This disruption is especially detrimental for students taking exams.

Around 900,000.000 students are still out of school two years ago, when the pandemic began in 2020.

The densely populated Chinese-ruled region has many families living in small, high-rise apartments. This makes online education difficult and sometimes frustrating with limited WiFi connectivity.

According to the government, mass testing of 7.4million people in the area will begin in March.

COVID-related deaths in children as young at 11 months have been reported by the city, causing concern among families.

Many people said that they felt doubly anxious following instances in which children and babies were taken from their parents because of one person contracting the virus.

An infected eleven-month-old girl was forced to stay in isolation in hospital this week despite her parents’ desperate requests to be there. This raised widespread concerns as hospitals claimed they were overcrowded and couldn’t cope.

“As soon we heard the news that the kids were being separated, I said it. Sofia, mother to two young children, aged seven and four, said that she was done with Hong Kong’s COVID-19 policies.

The mother-of-three plans to fly to Australia with her kids next week, and then move to Singapore in June with her husband.

“The aim for zero cases here, it’s absurd,” she said. We cannot reach zero. It plays on peoples’ minds – why are we staying here?”