I write in reference to the letter from the Education Action Group which was published under the headline 'More social workers needed' (South China Morning Post, December 12).
The Government has always accorded high priority to providing quality service to meet the multifarious needs of students.
Following the completion of a comprehensive review on school social work service by our Department in April last year, the Government has endorsed the provision of one school social worker for each secondary school.
The provision will be implemented in all new schools starting this year.
For existing secondary schools, 300 school social workers are currently providing services for 452 schools. The improvement in manpower provision for these schools will require the creation of an additional 152 school social worker units at a total provision of $97 million.
The non-government organisations concerned and the Department are currently identifying resources from existing youth services to implement this improvement by phases, starting from September this year.