Enhancing early identification, improving mental health and fostering help-seeking behaviour will help prevent student suicides.
This is the advice of the Committee on Prevention of Student Suicides, which submitted its final report and recommendations to Secretary for Education Eddie Ng today.
The committee analysed 71 cases of student suicide in the last three school years to understand the causes of local student suicides and suggest prevention measures.
They studied World Health Organisation data and compared Hong Kong's figures with those of Korea, Japan, the US and Australia.
Data comparison showed some students with mental health problems were not identified early enough and given appropriate support.
Mr Ng said the report states there is no direct correlation between the suicide cases and the overall education system.
The Education Bureau has started simplifying and fine-tuning the curricula of some subjects, and Mr Ng has written to schools encouraging them to make their homework policy more transparent.
"We believe the positive effects have started emerging," he said, adding the bureau will carefully consider the recommendations and collaborate with government agencies and stakeholders to study how to take them forward.
Click here for details on the report.
