Hong Kong education authorities have requested a detailed report from a secondary school following complaints that its teachers failed to promptly intervene when four drunk men reportedly harassed two female students during a study tour in Shenzhen.
The incident came to light on Sunday after students from Chang Pui Chung Memorial School revealed it in a post on the social media platform Threads.
According to the post, the two Form Five students encountered the men in a hotel corridor one night during the tour while they were on their way to visit their classmates in another room.
The drunk men then approached the girls, tried to talk to them and even filmed them with their phones, the post said. The students then repeatedly called their teachers to seek help but received no response.
It took around 15 minutes before a teacher from another participating school noticed the situation and stepped in.
Later, a friend of the students reported that a teacher reprimanded the girls for talking to strangers, drawing criticism from some peers who said they felt the girls were being blamed instead of supported.
The Education Bureau said it had contacted both the school and the event organiser to understand the incident.
It also said that authorities were informed that the situation had been handled promptly by school staff and hotel personnel and that all students completed their trip and returned safely to Hong Kong on Friday last week.
The bureau added that it had asked the school to further review the incident and submit a detailed investigation report.
Schools have been repeatedly reminded that the safety of participants must be the top priority during cross-boundary programmes and that students should avoid being alone whenever possible, it said.
Au Wai-hung, vice-principal of Chang Pui Chung Memorial School, told the Post on Monday that a teacher from another school assisted the students in dealing with the drunk men before escorting them to the school鈥檚 staff.
He said the students involved did not have physical contact with the men and that after checking the men鈥檚 phones, no photos or videos of the girls were found.
Au added that one of the men apologised and promised such incidents would not happen again.
He also said the affected students had changed rooms with teachers accompanying them and that arrangements would be made for them to meet a school counsellor.
The vice-principal also said that before leaving the city, the teachers instructed the students not to leave their rooms without permission, stressing that the staff members had fulfilled their responsibilities.
Au also urged the hotel to improve security measures for future students.