The head of the University of Hong Kong’s Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention on Sunday said a school-based system designed to prevent youth suicide has been effective, but could still be improved.

The government-led three-tier school-based emergency system has so far identified about 200 vulnerable pupils while about a dozen high-risk students have been referred for psychiatric help.

“I think [the system] has managed to capture some of the students that have the needs. Nevertheless, I think the overall arrangements, I think they still can be further enhanced. I think we will have continuous discussion with the school principals and the other personnel, and then hopefully we will come up with a recommendation by the end of this year,” said Professor Paul Yip after attending a Commercial Radio programme.

Under the mechanism, schools are offered assistance in identifying students with mental health needs or high suicide risks in the first-tier. In the second tier, an off-campus support network is formed to enhance external support for schools. Lastly, school principals can refer students with severe mental health needs to the Hospital Authority's psychiatric specialist services.

Meanwhile, a secondary school principal has called on the Education Bureau to conduct a comprehensive review of its school curriculum framework to find ways to improve students' well-being.

The call from Esther Ho, who is also the chairwoman of the Hong Kong Association of Careers Masters and Guidance Masters, followed an HKU annual study which revealed that the suicide rate among teenagers under 15 increased to 2.9 per 100,000 people last year from 0.9 in 2022.

“It's not a responsive initiative. We have emergency issues, we have problems, so we kick-start a number of ad hoc groups to cater them. It has been nearly 25 years since the previous comprehensive review document was released,” she said.

“So looking back retrospectively, in the past two decades, especially the pandemic period, we identify a lot of issues. AI is transforming our education, learning, curriculum. So it's timely to review both the [School Curriculum Framework], Leaning and Teaching Practices, as well as how we could promote a holistic person's development for our next generations.”

Ho cited her school on practices it is organising to promote students’ well-being and improve their mental health.

“In my school, we have well-being music, welcoming our teachers and students every day. And continuously we engage our students in various activities, a lot of teams, and from last year we have our own student team promoting mental health. So they could derive and actualise their own plan, and this is their voice and the connections with their peers that make things work,” she said.