Opinion | Hong Kong schools must focus on mental health to produce resilient adults
- Most schools are too focused on producing students who get good grades and go to university to prepare young people for other paths in life
- Mental health training should be included in the compulsory curriculum to cultivate positive life attitudes, regardless of academic success
Since the 2017/2018 academic year, the government has offered a non-means-tested subsidy of around HK$32,000 to students pursuing undergraduate degrees, with the aim of easing the financial burden. However, no matter how many resources are invested, it is not possible for all graduating secondary school students to go on to tertiary education.
And when those students enter the workplace, they lose the protective barrier provided by their school, and need to take every step on their own. Of course, some may argue that they are already adults and should face the challenges of the working world on their own rather than relying on others.
In the past, when only a single-digit percentage of secondary school graduates went on to higher education, almost everyone went straight into the workforce and a certain strength could be drawn from numbers. It was less stressful to become a working adult, because there was always someone else around who had similar experiences, and young people could encourage and motivate each other to move up in the world.
However, these days, university has become a crucial stage in the life of most young people – after secondary school, everybody considers higher education, while those who go straight into the workforce have become a minority, and they become cheerless and confused about their career prospects.
04:27
Hong Kong students prepare for university entrance exams amid latest wave of pandemic
