Hong Kong educators, schools and parents say their children’s efforts to make the grade have been hampered by the repeated suspension of face-to-face classes. Kathy Zhang reports from Hong Kong.

In this undated photo, a school teacher conducts online teaching in an emptied classroom in Hong Kong. (PHOTO / CHINA DAILY)

‘I am not qualified and in no mood to teach my son English,” groans Xiong Ju — a single mother who has become increasingly worried about her son’s academic performance.   

Her 7-year-old son, Ho Chun-to, who’s still in primary school, scored an unflattering zero out of 100 in an English-language test in September, after the new school year began.

Since early this year, when COVID-19 first reared its head, the total time Ho had spent in school was no more than six weeks. As classes continued to remain suspended, he and his peers had no choice but to take to online learning.

Since early this year, when COVID-19 first reared its head, the total time Ho had spent in school was no more than six weeks

For Xiong, a self-employed interior decoration worker, it’s like rubbing salt in the wound. Her only solution was to dig into her earnings and send her son to a tutorial center to help him catch up.    

Poor grades, unsatisfying results from a year of studying at home, and mounting disparities in students’ academic performance have made Hong Kong parents and schools apprehensive. But there’s no way out, with on-campus classes off the table in the pandemic-gripped city.

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With problems piling up amid the worldwide experiment with remote learning, educators agree that online studies can never replace face-to-face classes.

Hong Kong students, like many of their peers worldwide, have gone through months of school suspensions since January.

“Suspending, resuming and then suspending classes over and over again. It’s like an endless loop,” laments Xiong.

On the same page is a 45-year-old housewife surnamed Hu, who complained that her 6-year-old son has been trailing his fellow students badly in Chinese-language classes after entering primary school in September.

“His homework shows his handwriting isn’t good,” said Hu.

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Teachers normally teach year-three kindergarten pupils the basic rules in writing Chinese characters and practice with simple characters in classes, Hu said. “But my son hadn’t learned anything in the first half of this year,” she said.

She’s mulling whether to allow her son to repeat his first year, fearing he’ll lose confidence in his ability to catch up academically

She’s mulling whether to allow her son to repeat his first year, fearing he’ll lose confidence in his ability to catch up academically.

Choy Sai-hung, principal of CCC Heep Woh Primary School (Cheung Sha Wan), agreed that online learning has only “half the effect” of face-to-face classes. He drew the conclusion from students’ performance in the school’s mid-year examination.

“The results just aren’t ideal,” said Choy, whose school held the examination in June after an almost five-month suspension of classes. The students’ grades in various subjects have dropped by an average of five to 10 marks compared with last year, Choy said.

Ng Pik-kin, who teaches history at Heung To Secondary School (Tseung Kwan O), echoed Choy’s concerns.

Ng, whose classes include fifth-year secondary and next year’s university entrance-examination students, believes that the overall performance of students in the 2021 Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education examinations will not be as satisfactory as in previous years. “Those taking next year’s DSE examinations didn’t have on-campus classes for almost the whole year.”

Ng and Choy believe that the academic performance gap between students from different family backgrounds will widen further if the pandemic continues to force classes to be halted.

“Some better-off families can help their children, like hiring tutors for one-on-one classes at home, while some with higher educational qualifications can teach their kids themselves. But others may have very limited options,” Choy said.

Nevertheless, schools and teachers will provide assistance to students as much as possible, and parents should work with schools closely, he said.

The pandemic has dealt a severe blow not only to Hong Kong students — it has become a global issue.

According to a research report by McKinsey & Co in early December, students in the United States have generally suffered a loss in learning this year, especially in mathematics. Students of color were about three to five months behind in mathematics, while white students were about one to three months behind.

Students lack self-discipline

Hong Kong’s Education Bureau said earlier this year it hoped that schools could “suspend classes without suspending learning”. Given that, schools arranged for teachers to have live-streamed classes via certain online learning applications, such as Zoom or Google Classroom, for students on school days.

Schools arranged for teachers to have live-streamed classes via certain online learning applications, such as Zoom or Google Classroom, for students on school days

“Remote teaching and learning represent a severe test for students’ self-discipline,” Choy said. Most underage students are unable to learn lessons and finish their homework only by exercising self-control, without the monitoring and guidance of teachers and parents, he said.

“In distancing classes, teachers can see students’ faces in webcams, but students’ engagement with classes is lower and it’s difficult to get students’ in-time feedback when teachers ask questions facing a screen,” Choy said, adding that this is one of the reasons why e-learning will never completely replace face-to-face classes.

Also, when teachers are in front of a computer, they don’t know how many students are grasping the knowledge in such a short time, he argued.  

Homework is another major headache. The most effective way is to ask students to make copies of their hand-written homework and send it back to teachers. “But we also need to control the time primary students spend on electronic products every day as it takes more time to see teachers’ feedback on the screen,” Ng said.

Many teachers are also not in favor of students typing their work although secondary school students are capable of handling it.

According to Ng, students may copy answers from the internet. “You don’t know where they get their answers from,” said Ng, adding that it would be a massive waste of time for both students and teachers if students just copy their answers without thinking.

The pandemic and the continued suspension of classes in schools have posed an unprecedented challenge for schools and teachers.

To increase students’ engagement in online classes, schools are racking their brains to optimize teaching strategies in remote classes. Some require teachers to spend more time in question-and-answer sessions to ensure students can keep up the same pace of learning, while others require students to turn on their webcams in livestreamed classes or wear uniforms.

Parents play a vital role

Ng’s school also requires parents to hand in students’ written homework to teachers in person each fortnight, and for teachers to make correction marks and comments on students’ homework. Thus, parents have to play a bigger part in their children’s distance learning, which means they’re under greater stress.

Xiong sent her son to a tutoring center in the neighborhood every afternoon after the school’s livestreamed classes

Xiong is among the parents affected. Since late January when the Education Bureau decided to halt classes as COVID-19 hit, she had to stop working for nearly a year and help her son with online classes at home every day.

She felt trapped at home with a lot of anxiety. “Only two of us are at home every day, staring at each other,” she said.

Xiong sent her son to a tutoring center in the neighborhood every afternoon after the school’s livestreamed classes. Her son can also take English lessons and do his homework there. In the meantime, she can shop for home necessities or hang out with friends, who are also mothers facing a “similar bitter destiny”.

Besides working more closely with parents and constantly optimizing teaching strategy to minimize the loss for students, schools seem to have no other option. “Only when the pandemic ends can the problem be thoroughly solved,” Choy said.

From a positive point of view, Choy thinks that distance learning and working from home will make schools operate more electronically.

Hopefully, the “new normal” can help Hong Kong’s primary and secondary schools expand e-learning resources and set up a well-established electronic system connecting schools, students and parents.

Even if face-to-face classes were to resume after the pandemic, these online resources can continue to be used to facilitate students’ self-learning and communication between schools and parents, Ng said.

Contact the writer at kathyzhang@chinadailyhk.com