Schools told to cancel classes in HK to ensure safety of students
THE Education Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government yesterday announced the cancelation of all school classes in Hong Kong today to ensure students’ safety.
Schools where classes were scraped include kindergartens, elementary and middle schools as well as special schools, said a statement issued by a spokesperson for the Education Bureau.
The decision was made in consideration of the current and predictable traffic conditions and the overall reports delivered by schools across HKSAR, the statement said.
The spokesperson stressed that the bureau has put students’ safety above all else, urging schools to keep their premises open and arrange staff to take care of students who have arrived at school.
Parents may still send their children to school if there is a need, and they are advised to pay attention to safety enroute and keep in close communication with the school, the statement noted.
The spokesperson said violent protesters have wreaked havoc on the society for days in a row. It is alarming that they created dangerous road situations and even vandalized nanny vans and schools have suffered various degrees of threatening.
The Education Bureau expressed strong condemnation on such acts that intentionally jeopardize students’ safety and deprive students of their basic rights to study, calling on the protesters to immediately stop all violence and bring order back to the society as soon as possible so that students may go to school safe and sound.
The spokesperson appealed once again that students should avoid wandering on the streets and should stay away from danger and should never participate in unlawful activities.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong police issued a statement on Tuesday night addressing a standoff between police and protesters at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in the New Territories.
Hundreds of protesters threw bricks, petrol bombs, launched arrows and even fired a signal flare at police officers during the standoff. Such violence has reached a deadly level, posing a serious threat to police officers and everyone at the scene, police said in the statement.
The radical protesters threw hard objects and petrol bombs onto Tolo
Highway, endangering drivers’ safety. They also hampered emergency services, such as ambulance services.
The Hong Kong police said yesterday that they have strong suspicions that the campus was used by rioters as a “weapon factory” from which several hundreds of petrol bombs were thrown.
“What happened in the Chinese University of Hong Kong is a black moment for Hong Kong. A university is supposed to be a breeding ground for future leaders, but it became a battle field for criminals and rioters,” Chief Superintendent of Police Public Relations Branch Tse Chun-chung said at a press briefing on Wednesday afternoon.
“What’s worse, we have strong suspicion that the school has been used as a weapon factory as several hundreds of petrol bombs were thrown from the campus in one single day,” he added.
“If someone breaks the law, regardless where you hide, the police have lawful powers to come after the offenders and bring them to justice,” police added.
Offensive weapons like electric saws, bows and arrows were used by rioters to target police officers.
(Agencies)