According to statistics from the Hong Kong Education Bureau, the number of students commuting across the boundary for schooling has now reached nearly 15,000, and the figure continues to rise. To meet the growing demand for service from this group of students, the International Social Service Hong Kong Branch (ISS-HK) once again launched the “Cross-border Student Support Project on the First Day of School” to partner with major ports and relevant departments to help students pass checkpoints smoothly and make their first school journeys hassle-free. 

To improve efficiency, various facilitation measures have been implemented at the ports. For example, Liantang Port opened student clearance lines slightly earlier than usual, and designated assembly areas for students. Despite these efforts, there was still congestion at public transport facilities during peak hours on the Hong Kong side. ISS-HK hopes that transport operators will enhance services during peak school travel periods to facilitate the students’ border crossing.  

ISS-HK set up support stations at five major ports, which included Liantang, Man Kam To, Luohu, Futian and Shenzhen Bay to provide a wide range of assistance to ensure smooth checkpoint crossings and offer on-the-spot guidance and support to parents and students. Staff at these stations also helped handle issues like lost identity documents and contacted schools when necessary, answered inquiries on welfare policies, gave information on customs to raise awareness on safe border-crossing, and offered emotional support and crisis management for students during emergencies.   

Ms Iris Liu, the Programme Director of ISS-HK Cross-boundary and Inter-country Social Service, stated: “Since 2012, ISS-HK has been committed to supporting cross-boundary students and their families by providing timely and appropriate assistance. On the first day of school, our team cheered for the students and offered them support, together with numerous Mainland departments which joined our campaign for the second time We look forward to continuing our cooperation with the authorities to provide comprehensive support for students’ diverse needs and to contribute to deeper Hong Kong–Shenzhen integration.”