Opinion | Hong Kong students, parents and teachers in dire need of mental health support to prevent tragic outcomes
- School-age children are stuck at home, can’t see their friends and are kept busy with schoolwork while parents and teachers face new demands on their time
- Schools should understand the challenges online learning pose to parents, teachers and students and show flexibility in their curriculum, schedule and support
The outbreak has also triggered many changes in the life of school-age children as they are stuck at home, can’t see their friends and are kept busy with schoolwork. They have been overloaded with information and teaching.
Home-based learning has been in place while in-person classes are suspended. The change in the learning environment has, however, hurt the well-being of students. According to the preliminary findings of the Quality Education Fund, which aims to promote wellness in school through mental health programmes, upper primary students of participating schools saw reductions in their well-being and positive thinking indicators. Other students had worse empathy and other indicators despite the fact that their knowledge of mental health had improved.
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Research suggests that online learning is less effective than in-person learning, especially with younger children who require more attention and need more guidance.