Blood bank an unwitting victim of 3+3+4 education reform: Red Cross

The new 3+3+4 education system is taking a toll on an unlikely victim: the Red Cross says its blood bank is suffering from a drop in donations collected from secondary schools.

University students generally donated blood less often than secondary school pupils did, Dr Lee Cheuk-kwong, a Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service consultant, said yesterday.

"Among undergraduate students eligible to give blood, less than 10 per cent of them actually make donations," Lee said. "But among secondary school pupils, the rate is 15 to 16 per cent."

Lee said the amount of blood collected by mobile collection teams at schools decreased last year.

He attributed the drop in donations to the 3+3+4 reforms to the education system, which started in the 2009-10 academic year.

That year, secondary school education was cut from seven to six years and standard university degree courses were lengthened from three to four years.