The Hong Kong Government’s guidelines on how schools should handle abuse cases are not clear enough, says the chairman of Hong Kong Aided Primary School Heads Association.
The South China Morning Post reported that representatives from a school principals’ association and a social worker group are requesting clearer guidelines and training for school staff.
The calls follow the shocking revelations of a five-year-old girl dying from alleged child abuse last week.
Cheung Yung-pong, chairman of the Hong Kong Aided Primary School Heads Association, said that while Hong Kong’s Education Bureau issues some help to schools, more work needs to be done.
“When our teachers call the Social Welfare Department, we are asking for help. I think more can be done. If our colleagues do not have enough experience, then [the help] given to the child could be cut off,” Cheung told the South China Morning Post.
Cheung said the guidelines had many flowcharts, which confused school staff as to which path to follow.
Raymond Fung Hing-kau, from the Hong Kong Social Workers’ General Union, said school-based social workers may not be familiar with handling abuse cases as they only represent a small number of the many cases they have to deal with.
Fung also pointed out that the Education Department, in managing heavy administrative workloads, might not accept cases that are considered less serious.
One way to support schools, says Fung, is for the Department to provide more feedback following a consultation, especially with school-based social workers having less power to execute certain tasks.
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