Electronic Circular Information for Parents

Current Parents may now reply electronic circular using e-Cert on the web and then receive a confirmation e-mail with an attachment of the signed pdf document..

Beginning in Academic Year 2009-10, PLK Choi Kai Yau School is sending official circulars in an electronic pdf format. These circulars are considered official documents and can be validated because they have been digitally signed and certified by the School.
A document that contains a digital signature can be instantly validated and will display a blue ribbon on the notification bar across the top of the Adobe Reader. On older versions of the Adobe reader, the blue ribbon will be displayed on a pop-up screen and in the lower left corner of the frame of the application. The blue ribbon symbol is your assurance that the digital signature is valid, authentic, and the contents of the document have not been altered.

How to Authenticate the Circular from the PLK Choi Kai Yau School Administration Office
All official electronic circulars from PLK Choi Kai Yau School have been digitally signed and therefore contain special characteristics. When the document is viewed through Adobe Reader versions 9.0 or through Adobe Acrobat versions 9.0, it will reveal that a digital signature has been applied to the document.
Adobe Reader version 9 and Acrobat version 9 and below will show a pop-up screen which will indicate whether the document is either valid, invalid, or whether the signer of the document is unknown and other measures must be taken to authenticate the document. In addition the pop-up screen allows for further examination of the digital signature, allowing you to authenticate the origin of the document.
Adobe Reader version 9 and Acrobat version 9 use a blue ribbon across the top of the document to indicate document authenticity and validity.

Attn Mac users: When viewing an official electronic transcript from the School the software utilizes Adobe’s secure certified PDF technology and therefore may only be viewed using the free Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat. The default Mac preview application will not display the document correctly.

How to Make Use of Digital Signing Server to Digitally Sign Electronic Circular
Digital Signing Server (DSS) is a simple way for parents to apply their digital signatures on electronic circular. Parents are required to provide Subscriber Reference Number (SRN) and the first 4-digits of their HKIC card number when login. Then parent can use their 16-digits password obtained from the PIN envelope for reconfirmation. Therefore, please keep the PIN envelope in a secure way.

Document Validity

Valid Signature
The document’s contents have not been changed or altered in any way. Also, when the pop-up screen/blue ribbon displays a message that the digital signature is valid it means that the author of the document is known to the certification authority and the person represented by the digital signature is true and authentic.

Invalid Signature
The documents digital signature is not authentic, or the document has been altered. The digital signature could have been revoked for some reason, or the document could have expired. In all cases, a document with an invalid display should be rejected.

Author Unknown
There are two possible meanings: the digital signature cannot be validated due to a disconnection to the internet, or the digital signature cannot be instantly validated via the internet. If this message is received make sure there is proper connection to the internet. If there is connection and the digital signature cannot be validated, reject this document.

Note on Pop-up Screens
To activate the pop-up screens in either Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat to view the status a document that has a digital signature (described above) open the application first, then open the document. Sometimes browsers will trigger Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat as a helper application, failing to activate the application’s full functionality.

For More Information
You may contact the Administration Office of PLK Choi Kai Yau School if you have additional questions about this digital signature, the authenticity of this document, or the means by which you received this document. Please direct these questions to e-circular@cky.edu.hk.

How to Digitally Sign Electronic Circulars

By the web

Parents could open and view the School’s e-Circular after selecting the class of their children. They could then fill in the e-Circular directly and hit the "Summit" at the upper right hand corner to send the filled e-Circular to the school by default email. A Confirmation email with digital signature will be sent back to parents in pdf format.