About half of teachers and pupils in Hong Kong show signs of depression, separate studies find
Education sector lawmaker Ip Kin-yuen warns ‘depressed campus’ problem cannot be taken lightly as results of polls released ahead of new school year
About half of teachers and secondary school pupils in Hong Kong are showing signs of depression, separate studies have found.
Both parties have complained about suffering heavy stress from the school workload, with close to a third of teachers putting in more than 60 hours a week, and a secondary student on average spending 11 hours a day on taking classes and studying.
The results of two separate polls were released on Sunday, the eve of the new school year.
Lawmaker Ip Kin-yuen, who represents the education sector, warned the “depressed campus” problem could not be taken lightly and urged schools and parents to work together to ease stress for teachers and students.
A Hong Kong Psychological Society study, commissioned by the Professional Teachers’ Union and conducted from late April to mid-May, found 52.2 per cent of 1,836 teachers interviewed showed symptoms of moderate or serious depression, including feelings of hopelessness, fatigue and sleep disorder.