Completely pointless school rules Hong Kong students want expelled right now

We need to provide a medical certificate whenever we’re absent from school due to illness. However, some parents don’t always want to take their child to the doctor because taking too much medicine is not good. This means students can’t provide a medical certificate. This can affect your school grades, which seems really unfair.  

Milky Lai Chin-hiu, 12, Sha Tin Tsung Tsin Secondary School

The fact that we cannot use mobile phones during lessons. Nowadays, phones can function as learning tools. For example, students might have an  e-book instead of a paper version, or they might use dictionary and thesaurus apps. We also have study groups on WhatsApp and spreadsheets on Google docs which we may need to access during lessons. The world has evolved, so schools really ought to evolve with it. 

Victoria Law Man-kei, 12, Maryknoll Fathers’ School

Having to wear white shoes to school is such a pain; a lot of the shops don’t have them and they usually aren’t comfortable. They’re also very expensive and have to be constantly washed, or sometimes even replaced, because they get dirty so easily. Let’s be honest: does wearing white shoes make us better students?

Awan Nimrah Nawaz, 16, St Margaret’s Girls’ College, Hong Kong

It may sound crazy, but my school doesn’t allow students to eat or drink in public while they’re still wearing their school uniforms. I’m always so hungry on the way home from school because I often stay late for extra classes, but thanks to this rule, I have to wait until I get home to be able to eat anything.

Mandy Lam, 13, Tak Nga Secondary School

School rules don’t let us take the lift, but I think we should be allowed to do it when we’re carrying books for our teachers. As a subject leader, I find it quite difficult to carry more than 30 workbooks up five flights of stairs to my classroom for my English teacher. It also seems like a waste of time. 

David Kong, 13, Immaculate Heart of Mary College

There is a rule which prevents students from representing their school in competitions without getting permission from the school authorities. This annoys me because there are competitions during summer but I can’t get approval from my school in time to enrol, so I can’t take part. 

Grace Chui, 15, Fung Kai Liu Man Shek Tong Secondary School

What bothers me most is that male students’ hair can’t touch their eyebrows – not even a little bit. So I constantly have to cut my hair to make sure it isn’t too long.

Tony Lau, 16, Fung Kai Liu Man Shek Tong Secondary School

Waking up and getting out of bed in the morning is a real challenge, which is why I hate that my school starts at 7.50am. Experts tell us we need at least eight hours of sleep, but most students stay up late to do their homework. So with the 7.50am start, we have to get up very early and that means we lack the energy to tackle the daily challenges and properly concentrate in class. I wish school would start  at 9am. 

Chan Sin-tung, 17, Leung Shek Chee College

It’s ridiculous that we’re not allowed to go to school wearing our sports uniforms on the days we have PE lessons. It’s really inconvenient having to change our uniforms before and after each PE lesson, and we have to carry around our PE uniforms all day, too. It’s an unnecessary rule that should be scrapped.

Jasper Chan Cheuk-kwan, 14, S.K.H. Tsang Shiu Tim Secondary School

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