The Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) has drafted a plan to launch courseware on mental health teaching to raise the community’s awareness of physical and mental health.
The working group on “Walking with Love” jointly set up by the Education and Youth Development Bureau, the Health Bureau (SSM) and the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS), together with the Macau Chinese Educators Association, the Macau Catholic Schools Association and the Caritas Lifehope Hotline, held its first plenary meeting for 2025 on Friday.
A DSEDJ statement released later on Friday noted that the meeting reviewed the group’s work last year and deliberated on key directions for this year, among which were organising school-sharing sessions on a regular basis, strengthening training for teachers to cope with the physical and psychological needs of students at different stages of development, urging schools to increase students’ motivation to engage in sporting activities, launching teaching materials on mental health, and strengthening young students’ awareness of compliance with the law and discipline.
According to the statement, at the start of the meeting DSEDJ Director Kong Chi Meng thanked the inter-departmental collaboration entities for the effectiveness of their work, subsequently pointing out that in the light of the changes in civil society, as cited by the statement, “we will further optimise and introduce more measures that are beneficial to the physical and mental health of students, including programmes targeting low motivation learning, deviant behaviours, and students who require more attention”.
On the importance attached by the community to physical and mental health, according to the statement, its targeted measures include launching a “Life Gatekeeper” course in collaboration with the Social Welfare Bureau to provide systematic training to enhance the ability of teaching staff to cope with the physical and mental needs of students at different stages of their development, as well as producing mental health teaching materials on a continuous and regular basis to encourage schools to organise psychological classes for their students to enhance their awareness, understanding and proper handling of their emotions. The statement added that parenting education resources will also be taken into consideration to raise awareness of the whole community, taking practical action to “care for ourselves, our family members and other people around us”.
This handout photo provided by the Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) on Friday shows representatives of the“Walking with Love” working group, including DSEDJ Director Kong Chi Meng (centre), addressing their plenary meeting, at the DSEDJ headquarters.
