Published: 19:29, January 29, 2024 | Updated: 10:16, January 30, 2024
Hong Kong extends emergency mechanism to stop teen suicides
By Wang Zhan

Primary and secondary school students walk outside Tseung Kwan O Government Secondary School, Dec 1, 2020. (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY)

HONG KONG – The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government on Monday extended until the end of the year a school-based emergency mechanism to stop the recent rise in student suicides.

The HKSAR government said in a statement that it was extending the implementation of the Three-Tier School-based Emergency Mechanism until Dec 31 and will launch new school measures for the early identification of students at high risk of suicide.

The program was launched on Dec 1 last year and implemented in all secondary schools in Hong Kong to provide support for students with higher suicidal risk as early as possible

The program was launched on Dec 1 last year and implemented in all secondary schools in Hong Kong to provide support for students with higher suicidal risk as early as possible.

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According to data from Hong Kong’s primary and secondary schools, which are required to report such cases to the government, there were 21 suspected fatal suicide cases in 2020, 25 in 2021 and as many in 2022.

Last year, police data showed that 306 schoolchildren had attempted suicide as of November, with 37 fatalities at an average age of 16.3 years old, and 15.7 years old for the 269 who survived. 

Besides the extension of the mechanism, the Education Bureau will also organize more than 40 training courses and workshops for schools from the end of this month until March to provide their personnel with practical skills, counselling techniques and intervention strategies to help students with mental-health needs.

The bureau will also collaborate with the Social Welfare Department to arrange for non-governmental organizations to visit secondary schools and organize mental-health activities from February to April.

READ MORE: Rising teen suicides demands urgent, proactive response

Under the emergency mechanism, schools give priority taking care of students with higher suicidal risk in the first tier by providing timely assistance or seeking professional counselling or treatment services for them.

If schools have manpower difficulties, the EDB will assist them in referring cases to the off-campus support network team organized by the SWD in the second tier. The third tier provides medical services to students with severe mental-health needs.