A student jumps on a colourful staircase at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui. The government’s pledge of support for improving students’ mental health is at odds with the grant of just HK$80,000 per school, an amount to be split between the schools and the parent-teacher associations. Photo: Sam Tsang
Opinion
Alice Wu
Alice Wu
Mixed messages on Hong Kong schools, mental health must stop
Reports that student withdrawals are dropping are welcome, but the news is at odds with the government cutting classes and closing schools
A paltry grant meant to improve mental health and heaping more work on overburdened teachers doesn’t send the right signal either
We need all the good news we can get, so let me start by highlighting the Post’s report on early pupil withdrawals from Hong Kong’s elite secondary schools. It found that numbers have dropped significantly since the peak of the emigration wave, with some schools having exit rates even lower than before the wave began.
Then there is the encouraging finding that four Primary One and seven Form One classes have been added to those approved after the government’s headcount exercise at the start of the school year. We opened the school year with 58 Primary One classes slashed. The readjustment of the number of classes appears to have been thanks to the government’s Top Talent Pass Scheme, which, according to the Immigration Department, has brought in almost 19,000 children.
It’s not just international schools that are seeing more enrolments as a result of an influx of people moving to the city for work and bringing along their families. A survey conducted by the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers found that more than 75 per cent of professionals recruited from outside Hong Kong want their children to study in the city’s primary and secondary schools. More are choosing government-funded institutions over private ones.
It might be too early to say that the tide is turning on the shutting down of schools because of low enrolment, but one thing is certain – this is yet another example of the current government’s tendency to send mixed messages.
If the government was really confident – or as confident as officials sound, at least – about attracting talent, it would stop slashing classes and closing schools.
Shutting down a class and reopening another one causes disruptions to school operators, takes away precious resources that could be better used on focusing on teaching children and could ultimately damage our children’s learning. The government wasted a golden opportunity to fully consider and implement smaller class sizes where educators can better cater to individual learning needs.
More importantly, giving students greater attention to make sure they excel academically would serve as a more effective preventive measure against the youth mental health crisis we are facing right now.
According to analysis of media reports conducted by the University of Hong Kong, almost two dozen teenagers in the city have attempted suicide or taken their own lives between August and October, double the number recorded for the same period last year. This is deeply disturbing. Other studies and surveys have consistently confirmed that the city’s youth are increasingly distressed.
While this isn’t a recent phenomenon, education officials seem to have finally woken up to this alarming trend. The government has announced grants for primary and secondary schools to promote mental health. In the circular sent to schools, the Education Bureau said it “has advised schools to make the well-being of students the priority and to pay close attention to their mental health”.
That is all very well, but what is a grant of a measly HK$80,000 (US$10,200) divided between schools and parent-teacher associations going to achieve, and how is that even considered “prioritising” the well-being of students? Holding seminars and creating “mental health” corners would help, but much more needs to be done to address this crisis.
The government is now also requiring schools to conduct a review of students’ workload and the arrangements for assessments. It has left the bulk of the work to the schools and, by extension, to teachers who already face mounting workloads.
Students in Fanling head to school on September 4, the first day of academic year. Photo: Edmond So
The government is trying to say student well-being is priority, but this “priority” seems to be all but worthless. While schools are told to review students’ workload, assessment methods and whether students are given enough leisure time to decompress and engage in activities that stimulate them mentally and physically, the government’s real priorities are injecting new elements into the syllabus.
If the government wants people to make this city their new home and put trust in our leaders and their abilities to foster growth, prosperity and contentment, it must stop sending conflicting messages through their words and actions.
Alice Wu is a political consultant and a former associate director of the Asia Pacific Media Network at UCLA
