The Judiciary Police (PJ) announced on Friday afternoon that a junior high school student sitting alone in a fast-food outlet overnight had not returned to a residential care home in Mong Ha for several days before he was found on Friday morning, but Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) Deputy Director Wong Ka Ki told the media yesterday: “We already found the student on that day [the day he had left the care home and not returned to his family home]”, adding that “our various entities have handled the case in a coordinated and timely manner”.
The authorities have not revealed the boy’s age, neither have they identified the residential care home nor the name of the restaurant.
According to a photo circulating online, the boy was alone overnight at a McDonalds in Mong Ha.
Wong made the remarks after addressing yesterday’s kick-off ceremony of the annual “Reading Day in the City of Macao” event, at the Macau Cultural Centre in Nape.
A minor in his school uniform was found sitting alone in a fast-food outlet in the northern district in the early hours of Friday by a client who immediately uploaded a photo of the boy on Facebook, arousing a heated debate online and attracting police attention.
The Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) said in a statement on Friday night that the boy was admitted to the care home as he was not being properly taken care of by his parents, adding that the student had left the care home on his own on a number of occasions.
When asked by a reporter whether this meant that it was not true that the boy hadn’t returned to the care home for a few days in a row, Wong replied, “No [it’s not true],” adding: “Only on that day he [the student] didn’t return to the care home…”. Wong also said the main reason for the confusion that caused the wrong police message was that the student told the police that he had not returned to the care home for several days. “However, after checking with different institutions and public entities, we concluded that the student’s remarks [about the period of time he had not returned to the care home] were not exact.”
According to Wong, upon discovering that the student had not returned to the care home, his bureau immediately activated the Campus Liaison Network and the School Crisis Management Mechanism with different public entities to provide appropriate counselling services and follow up with the student’s family.
He noted that the student had been found at the eatery on the day he was reported missing and that it was not true that the student had not returned to the care home for several days, underlining that teachers and student counsellors were now following up on the case.
According to previous reports by the authorities, the boy was reported missing on Thursday evening and found sitting alone in the fast-food outlet early on Friday, i.e., he was in the restaurant overnight.
Wong also said that according to the mechanism, the Public Security Police (PSP) would be notified when a student had not returned to his or her care home for a certain period of time, in order to locate him or her elsewhere, stressing that the bureau always puts the student’s safety as its priority.
Kindergarten admissions working well: Wong
Meanwhile, Wong pointed out that the government’s “centralised admission system for kindergartens” has so far been generally smooth this year, with about 96 percent of the registered children having been enrolled, while 38 school divisions are still enrolling students, urging parents of school-age children to grasp the relevant places and enrol their kids as soon as possible.
With the drop in school-age enrolment, according to Wong, the bureau has adopted a “one-school-one-policy” approach, i.e., working with schools to formulate development directions in the light of the size of the school and curriculum development, including strengthening cross-school cooperation, teacher education and research, hoping to reduce any adverse impact on class sizes in schools.
Students touring Hengqin
With the aim of enabling senior high school students to better understand the development of the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, as well as the different industries in the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Greater Bay Area and the country as a whole, as well as to select their study preferences, the bureau is planning to officially launch the “Study Tour to the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin” project in the next school year, providing local F4 students with about 4,000 tour places, according to Wong.
Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) Deputy Director Wong Ka Ki speaks to the media after yesterday’s kick-off ceremony of the annual “Reading Day in the City of Macao” event, at the Macau Cultural Centre (CCM) in Nape. – Photo: Yuki Lei
