Engagement
Stakeholder Engagement Event
Engagement Session on “Mental Health of Children and Positive Parenting”
Follow-up on Engagement Session
Follow-up on Views Gathered at the Stakeholder Engagement Session on “Mental Health of Children and Positive Parenting”
- One-Stop Mental Health Website
- The Education Bureau (EDB) has launched the “Mental Health@School” website (http://mentalhealth.edb.gov.hk), serving as a resourceful platform for teachers, students, parents and the general public to access curated mental health resources. The website is designed based on students’ needs and regularly updated to help schools and parents provide timely support for students. Schools are encouraged to incorporate these resources systematically to promote student mental health.
- “Mental Health Literacy” Resource Packages
- Commencing in the 2023/24 school year, EDB has introduced a series of “Mental Health Literacy” resource packages tailored for students at different learning stages. Key themes include maintaining good mental health, understanding mental health disorders and effective treatments, reducing stigma related to mental illness and encouraging help-seeking among peers.
- Whole School Approach to Student Well-being
- EDB advocates for a supportive and inclusive school culture through the Whole School Approach. All school personnel, including teachers, social workers and professionals of different disciplines, collaborate to support students holistically. Students are encouraged to seek help from them when encountering difficulties.
- “Peer Power – Student Gatekeeper Training Programme”
- EDB has commissioned an NGO to launch the “Peer Power – Student Gatekeeper Training Programme” since the 2019/20 school year. The progrmme aims to provide training for secondary students to become “peer leaders” and enhance their knowledge of mental health as well as skills in managing stress and emotions. It further gears them up to identify and respond to peers in need, while promoting a positive culture of problem-solving and help-seeking in schools.
- Curriculum Frameworks on Parent Education
- To systematically equip parents with essential knowledge and skills, EDB has rolled out the Curriculum Frameworks on Parent Education for kindergartens, primary schools and secondary schools. These frameworks encompass four core strands, including the “Promotion of Healthy, Happy and Balanced Development of Children/Adolescents”.
- Parent Education Courses and e-Platforms
- EDB has commissioned post-secondary institutions and NGOs to offer territory-wide and district-based parent education courses and talks aligned with the Curriculum Frameworks. Topics include fostering positive parent-child relationships, effective communication strategies and parenting techniques for different developmental stages. Important messages about children’s physical and psychological growth are disseminated through the “Smart Parent Net” (https://www.parent.edu.hk/) and its social media channels, incorporating related elements into parent education.
- Positive Parent Campaign
- Since June 2020, EDB has run the “Positive Parent Campaign” to promote positive parenting attitudes and strategies. The theme of 2025 focuses on cultivating resilience and building strong interpersonal relationships between parents and children.
- Caring and inclusive school environment
- EDB has been actively fostering a caring and harmonious school environment while instilling proper values and positive attitudes in students. Diversified student development programmes, resources for promotion of positive school culture and bullying prevention, as well as professional training, are provided to strengthen teacher-student relationships and support schools in adopting positive guidance and disciplinary approaches. Elements of cultivating positive thinking and building self-confidence in students are incorporated into various curriculum documents for schools’ reference, e.g. the Primary Education Curriculum Guide (2024) and the Primary Humanities Curriculum Framework (Final Draft) (2024).
- Peer Support and Empathy Building
- Schools are supported in establishing peer support networks that nurture empathy and encourage mutual assistance among students, reinforcing a culture of care.
- Mental Health and Student Growth Resources
- To support student development, EDB provides schools with multimedia resources (e.g. short videos, lesson plans) on topics such as emotional regulation, adaptability, peer social interaction, resilience and stress management. Schools can adapt and incorporate these resources for classroom use and student development activities.
- Optimising the school assessment and assignment policies
- The aim of education is to foster proper values and positive attitudes among students, while leading a healthy lifestyle is one of the learning goals of school curriculum. EDB released the Primary Education Curriculum Guide (PECG) in 2024, which provides clear guidelines and recommended measures for optimising the school assignment policy. The PECG emphasises that schools should adopt the principle of “quality rather than the quantity that matters” in the design and arrangement of homework. Schools should formulate a school-based mechanism to avoid assigning excessive homework to students, and monitor the implementation and effectiveness of the mechanism. Schools should also arrange afternoon tutorial session as far as possible. It can facilitate students to finish some or all of their homework under teachers’ guidance, meanwhile reducing assignments during long holidays to create more space for students. Furthermore, schools should publish their assessment and assignment policies on their official webpages for access by the public and stakeholders, collect views from teachers, students and parents regularly (at least once per school year) for ongoing review and optimisation of school assessment as well as assignment policies, formulate relevant support measures for students and parents requiring assistance, ensure effective communication regarding the assignment policy and help parents understand their roles in assignments. Parents should avoid excessive involvement in their children’s assignments, such as requiring them to make repeated revisions to achieve “flawless perfection”. Instead, parents should set reasonable expectations for their children and create an environment that promotes their healthy growth and balanced development.
- Dissemination of good practices to schools
- Apart from the enhanced School Development and Accountability framework to promote self-improvement of schools in related areas, EDB has also been disseminating the key messages and good practices to schools with a view to creating space for students and promoting their physical and psychological well-being through various channels, such as circulars, letters, featured articles, video and comic series, and on-site workshops for teachers.