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Well-Being of Hong Kong DSE Students in the Post-COVID-19 Age: Opportunities and Challenges for Mental Health Education and Promotion

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Well-Being in the Information Society: When the Mind Breaks (WIS 2022)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 1626))

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Abstract

Hong Kong has been regarded as one of the strong examination-driven systems worldwide. Under the current education system, local secondary school students have to sit for the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE) at the end of Grade 12. Although the continuing assessment reform since 2000 tried to reduce the number of high-stakes examinations for secondary school students (from two to one at the end of the six-year secondary education), it remained a high-stakes public examination because the examination results usually have a significant influence on learners’ future pathways, including further education and employment. In respect of the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020, many international public examinations have been tried to be called off, but the Hong Kong government did persist in moving ahead with HKDSE. This aroused criticisms about whether the government has taken students’ well-being as a top priority because the annual survey on DSE students’ stress recorded the highest levels in 2020, 2021 and 2022. In this paper, the positioning and myth of HKDSE and its tie to Confucian philosophy will be examined. Students’ well-being is also discussed regarding rescheduling the examination and the impacts on the mental health of all DSE students, notwithstanding the challenges that can bring to any successful outcomes. It is hoped to urge mental health education and promotion could be carried out systematically to improve its effectiveness.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Grade point conversion for Category A subjects (Elective subjects): Level 5** as 7 points, level 5* as 6 points, level 5 as 5 points, level 4 as 4 points, level 3 as 3 points, level 2 as 2 points, and level 1 as 1 point.

  2. 2.

    Twenty-four secondary subjects and four compulsory core subjects.

  3. 3.

    Applied Learning (APL) subjects (about 40 subjects are offered).

  4. 4.

    It is an annual territory-level assessment to objectively assess the basic learning competencies and learning progress of the students at different stages of learning.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Education University of Hong Kong, 10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong

    Derek Wai Sun Chun, Siu Ho Yau & Ting Ting Fung

  2. The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong

    Wai Man Chan

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  1. Derek Wai Sun Chun
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  2. Siu Ho Yau
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  3. Wai Man Chan
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  4. Ting Ting Fung
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Derek Wai Sun Chun .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Tampere University, Tampere, Finland

    Hongxiu Li

  2. Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland

    Maehed Ghorbanian Zolbin

  3. University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia

    Robert Krimmer

  4. Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland

    Jukka Kärkkäinen

  5. Tampere University, Tampere, Finland

    Chenglong Li

  6. University of Turku, Turku, Finland

    Reima Suomi

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Chun, D.W.S., Yau, S.H., Chan, W.M., Fung, T. (2022). Well-Being of Hong Kong DSE Students in the Post-COVID-19 Age: Opportunities and Challenges for Mental Health Education and Promotion. In: Li, H., Ghorbanian Zolbin, M., Krimmer, R., Kärkkäinen, J., Li, C., Suomi, R. (eds) Well-Being in the Information Society: When the Mind Breaks. WIS 2022. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1626. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14832-3_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14832-3_1

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