About 500 primary school pupils of Tai Po Baptist Public School (TPBPS) have resumed classes in temporary classrooms set up on the premises of the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK), with most students returning to their normal routines ten days after the deadly blaze in their district.
EdUHK president John Lee Chi-kin said on Friday the university had offered its gymnasium and converted activity rooms into about 10 temporary classrooms, while a university psychologist shared that the children had settled into their usual routines there.
“For pupils, it was a good experience to study on a university campus and many told me happily that they had made up their minds to enter university,” TPBPS supervisor Tsang Ka-shek said, adding that the school was making plans to transfer its students to two primary schools in the district in mid-December.
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EdUHK, located on Lo Ping Road in Tai Po, earlier set up a temporary support centre for schools in the district following the inferno at Wang Fuk Court last week, which has claimed at least 159 lives.
Classes across at least 13 schools in Tai Po were suspended after the blaze started last Wednesday. Some resumed on Monday, but authorities said TPBPS, located near Wang Fuk Court, would remain shut for some time, while Tsang noted that it was unsuitable for pupils to continue going to school so close to the destroyed buildings.
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According to Tsang, EdUHK mostly accommodated TPBPS’ junior primary students. Arrangements were made for its senior primary pupils to attend classes at locations outside Tai Po, such as at the City University campus in Kowloon Tong.