HK students return to campuses as new academic year begins in Tseung Kwan O on Sept 1, 2022. (CALVIN NG/CHINA DAILY)
Hong Kong’s ombudsman Winnie Chiu Wai-yin on Thursday said there is inadequate supervision of schools that provide boarding facilities to children with intellectual disabilities, which may increase the risk of child abuse and oversight.
The findings, announced by Chiu at a news conference, come from one of two direct investigations.
The report of Hong Kong’s ombudsman Winnie Chiu Wai-yin's report found that there were inadequate guidelines on the day-to-day operation of boarding sections of schools for children with intellectual disabilities, no closed-circuit television surveillance systems with a recording function, a lack of systematic monitoring of the use of physical restraint or seclusion on boarders
Chiu said the city’s Education Bureau has failed to give any guidelines for operation or to put in place an inspection system for such boarding services.
She noted that schools providing such services to children with intellectual disabilities “have in general exercised self-discipline”.
“The boarders with intellectual disabilities rely on others in their daily lives and health care. Given their limited ability to communicate effectively with others, those boarders may not be able to explain clearly their situation and discontent to their parents or others even when encountering problems in boarding sections,” Chiu said.
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The ombudsman report found that there were inadequate guidelines on the day-to-day operation of boarding sections of schools for children with intellectual disabilities, no closed-circuit television surveillance systems with a recording function, a lack of systematic monitoring of the use of physical restraint or seclusion on boarders.
To rectify the issue, the ombudsman has made 12 recommendations for the EDB. These include requiring schools with boarding facilities for children with intellectual disabilities to install CCTV surveillance systems with a recording function, conduct random checks from time to time of the recorded footage on the CCTV and devise clear arrangements for inspections.
In the academic year 2021/22, there were 43 EDB-aided schools for children with intellectual disabilities, 16 of which had boarding sections backed financially by the EDB to cater for students with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities.
The Education Bureau should spare no effort in ensuring an effective mechanism for monitoring the boarding sections of schools for children with intellectual disabilities and enhance the services to safeguard the welfare of boarders, according to the report.
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The direct investigation was launched on April 7, 2022, following media reports about suspected abuse of children with intellectual disabilities at the boarding section of an EDB-aided school
Such maltreatment included improper use of restraints or isolation measures to restrict the movement and mobility of children.
The ombudsman also announced a direct investigation report into measures and use of on-street parking spaces designated for people with disabilities, which showed that the Transport Department had inadequately assessed the issue when it extended the use of parking spaces, which resulted in supply failing to meet the surge in demand and possible abuse of the designated parking spaces.