this would facilitate the students’ integration back into local schools if their families returned.

He said at present Hongkongers in Shenzhen study in international schools or places that generally use a mainland curriculum but with English lessons based on those from Hong Kong.

“From our early discussions with the Education Department of Guangdong province, the policy is not an issue, but we need to head to different cities for further talks on matters such as land and construction,” Yeung said. He added the department was “proactive” about the plan.

He said under this proposed arrangement, most subjects could be taught in Cantonese, with Mandarin for a select few.

Wong Kwan-yu, president of the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers, a pro-Beijing teachers’ union, said the city’s Education Bureau had consulted it onthe plan a few months ago. The group operates two local schools but said it had no plans to set up one in the Bay area.

“It is already difficult to manage a school in Hong Kong, all the more so on the mainland, but we are open to studying the feasibility,” he said.

It is already difficult to manage a school in Hong Kong, all the more so on the mainland, but we are open to studying the feasibility

Wong Kwan-yu, Federation of Education Workers

Wong said concerns included student enrolment numbers, with uncertainty in the actual number of Hongkongers moving to an area, and the costs of setting up a school. Such a facility would likely be privately owned, according to him.

Yeung said it was a chicken-or-egg conundrum, so the