Today (3rd), on the resumption day of secondary schools, two secondary school students fell from buildings in Hong Kong. The deceased were Form 1 boys and Form 5 boys. Their suicide notes revealed that they were troubled by academic problems.
The Education Bureau is saddened by the incident, and has immediately contacted the schools concerned and provided necessary support. It has also been informed that the school has activated a crisis management team to follow up the incident, including arranging school social workers and educational psychologists to provide counseling for students in need and support.
The Education Bureau stated that the authorities launched a new round of activities to promote the mental health of students before the resumption of classes, and encouraged schools, parents and students to welcome the resumption of classes with a caring and positive attitude, including holding a territory-wide online seminar, providing school-based educational psychologists with information. A new series of reference resources to assist them in organizing relevant school-based workshops; and holding slogan creation competitions, etc., hoping to work together with schools to protect students.
The authorities said they would assist schools in adopting a whole-school participation model to promote students' mental health and strengthen support for students with mental health needs at three levels: "universal," "selective," and "targeted."
At the "universal" level, the Education Bureau has continued to promote a number of training programs to enhance students' resilience through adventure, team building and problem-solving training. ” webpage, disseminates diversified information about students’ mental health to schools and parents, helps students to participate in campus life, and builds a caring campus.
At the "selective" level, in order to help teachers, parents and students identify students at risk of suicide early, the authorities said they are committed to providing them with "gatekeeper" training, such as 60-hour thematic courses for teachers, online seminars for parents workshops, and the “Student Guardian Ambassador” programme for secondary school students.
At the "targeted" level, the "Learning Support Grant" provided by the Education Bureau to public sector schools covers mentally ill students; the Education Bureau, together with the Food and Health Bureau, the Hospital Authority and the Social Welfare Department, has also launched the "Medical Education Community Collaboration Scheme" ” to provide appropriate support services for students with mental health needs.
The Education Bureau stated that it will continue to maintain communication with schools, reminding schools to understand students’ learning and emotional performance, and to regularly contact parents to review and adjust support strategies and content at different stages.
Help Sites and Hotlines:
Hong Kong Samaritan Society for Suicide Prevention Hotline: 23892222
Hospital Authority Mental Health Line: 24667350
Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Zhi Ruo Yuan Hotline: 18281
Samaritans Hotline: 28960000
Social Welfare Department Hotline: 23432255
Lifeline: 23820000
Liminhui "Instant Communication": 35122626
Caritas Xiangqing Hotline: 18288
Resumption of classes│Po Leung Kuk Ye Wu Binbin Kindergarten cancels refreshment time to allow children to choose activities On the first day, there were cases where classes resumed.
Pictures | Kindergarten resumes face-to-face classes after the quick test, students can run and laugh together again and resume classes | Kindergarten resumes classes without fear of quick test and looks forward to seeing teachers and classmates playing together
