Question

From spring 2020 to the present, Hong Kong society has been affected by covonavirus, and the government ’s ability to cope with the epidemic has also been disputed.

(a) Please take crisis decision-making as an example to analyze how the Hong Kong Education Bureau responded to the epidemic.

Answer 1

Crisis decision making refers to a situation when managers/owners of the organisation have to make some crucial game-changing decisions to save the organisations, its client's interests and come out of the situation. In the light of current pandemic due to COVID-19, The HongKong Education Bureau took an immediate decision to shut schools and focus on continued learning of children virtually and through digital means. They also recognised the importance of teacher training and introduced special adult learning modules for teachers to help them engage with students virtually. This led them to succeed in following the safety of children and school staff. However, it failed to take decisions related to the design of a structured e-learning curriculum for children and also develop an accountability mechanism for schools in the absence of regular classes and examinations. In the absence of accountability ensuring quality education becomes a challenge. Hence, we could say that the bureau could have done better in terms of planning e-learning modules and assigning clear cut accountability to schools.