Music therapy to be soundtrack for schools

Music therapy has helped treat the ill and disabled and will now enter the classroom in an effort to help students think and learn better.

Fung Wai-tong, deputy head of organiser RTHK Radio One, said 'lunchtime music therapy' would be brought into 100 Po Leung Kuk secondary schools across the city to improve students' thinking and learning abilities.

'So far, Lee Shing Pik College is the first school in Hong Kong to implement music therapy. We plan to invite record company representatives to talk to students about the production process behind making music, which could increase students' interest in music, especially pop music,' Mr Fung said.

'Most schools are still playing classical music - during recess, in the library and at lunch - because it is more calming and less noisy, but we plan to incorporate pop music into the formula, because music from their own time is obviously what interests them more,' he added.

Joanna Chan Mei-yuk, a certified music therapist with seven years' experience as executive director of the Wellness Service Centre, said music therapy can be used to improve people's quality of life and as a treatment for patients with disabilities or illnesses.

The organisers hope the programme will eventually include body percussion, which involves percussive sounds that are created using the body.