News
Thematic Mainland Exchange Programmes for Secondary and Primary School Students (2026/27) (4)
Summary
This circular memorandum invites secondary schools (including special schools) to nominate Secondary 3 to 6 students and teaching staff (including principals) to participate in the captioned programmes. Relevant information will also be sent to schools via the “Fast Information Transmission System - School Messaging Module” (SMM).
Details
The Education Bureau (EDB) organises “Thematic Mainland Exchange Programmes for Secondary School Students (2026/27) (4)” (the Programmes). In line with the school curriculum, the Programmes aims at providing different learning experiences for students to enhance their understanding of the history, economy, culture and natural resources etc. in the Mainland (including Ningxia, Harbin and Changchun ), thereby enhancing their sense of national identity.
The EDB has commissioned service providers to organise two five-day tours outside Guangdong Province, for Secondary 3 to 6 students for the 2026/27 school year. Please refer to Annex 1 (Chinese version only) for details of the Programmes and application procedures, and Annex 2 (Chinese version only) for the itineraries of respective tours and examples of their linkages with the curriculum.
Schools should proactively encourage students who have not joined any Mainland exchange programmes to participate in at least one subsidised Mainland exchange programme (MEP) in their primary and secondary stages. In addition, starting from 10 July 2024, non-Chinese citizens who are permanent residents of Hong Kong may apply for the “Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macao Permanent Residents (Non-Chinese Citizens)” from the China Travel Service Entry Permit Service Hong Kong Limited. Schools should remind eligible students to complete the application procedures soon so that they can use the E-channels at ports of entry for immigration clearance and need not fill in the Arrival Card when entering the Mainland, thus enhancing clearance efficiency. For details, please refer to the respective webpage (https://www.ctshk.com/mep/zh/nrep_notice_mep/).
Schools may apply for more than one tour. Schools intending to nominate students and teaching staff to participate in the Programmes NX and HC may view the application information on the websites of the respective service providers from 2 November 2026 onwards, and submit the completed application form to the service providers within the specified period [Please refer to Annex 2] before the planned departure date of the tour.
Starting from the 2024/25 school year, schools will receive the latest itinerary information and application details of MEPs for students via the SMM. The EDB will continue to issue individual Circular Memoranda on MEPs and adjust relevant arrangements based on actual circumstances.
Enquiries
For enquiries, please contact the Life-wide Learning and Mainland Exchange Section 2 of the EDB at 2892 6430 (for the trip of NX) or 2892 5734 (for the trip of HC). For more information about MEPs, please visit the “Passing on the Torch” website (https://www.passontorch.org.hk/en/index.html).
For further details of the Scheme, please refer to the Education Bureau Circular Memorandum No. 193/2026. (Download)