Office of The Ombudsman announces results of direct investigation into Education Bureau's monitoring of boarding sections of schools for children with intellectual disabilities (with photo)
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The Ombudsman, Ms Winnie Chiu, today (April 27) announced the completion of a direct investigation into the monitoring of boarding sections of schools for children with intellectual disabilities by the Education Bureau (EDB), and made 12 recommendations for improvement to the bureau.
Some schools for children with intellectual disabilities subsidised by the EDB have boarding sections that provide boarding service to students with moderate or severe intellectual disabilities who meet the boarding criteria. The EDB regards the boarding sections of schools for children with intellectual disabilities as part of the schools. Their day-to-day operation and management, therefore, should be overseen by the incorporated management committee of the school in accordance with the school-based management principles, just like the school section. The EDB monitors the schools and their boarding sections in various aspects to ensure that their governance and operation comply with the relevant legislation and the guidelines it has issued.
Investigation by the Office of The Ombudsman has found that in the past, save for stipulations on staffing establishment and provision of funds, the EDB had neither laid down separately any detailed operational requirements or restrictions, nor put in place an inspection system specific to the boarding sections of schools for children with intellectual disabilities. The "Practice Guide for Special Schools on Planning and Managing Boarding Service" (Practice Guide) issued by the EDB in March 2021 was far from specific. The Office considers that there is still room for improvement with respect to the EDB's monitoring of the boarding sections of schools for children with intellectual disabilities, including such aspects as the use of closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance systems, monitoring of the boarding sections' application of physical restraint or seclusion on the boarders, arrangements for conducting inspections at the boarding sections, and the mechanism for reporting serious incidents in the boarding sections. The bureau must spare no efforts to ensure the effectiveness of its monitoring mechanism so as to enhance the services of the boarding sections and safeguard the welfare of the boarders with intellectual disabilities.
Ms Chiu said, "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. We do not doubt the devotion of those who take care of the children with intellectual disabilities in the boarding sections, and we understand the hardships involved. However, given the special circumstances of the boarders with intellectual disabilities, and the fact that service nature and arrangements at the boarding sections are completely different from those at other schools, while the sector in general has exercised self-discipline, it does not mean that the authority can make light of its monitoring responsibilities. We understand that under the school-based management policy, schools are provided with greater flexibility and autonomy in terms of management and operation, including their boarding sections, but the EDB should still step up the monitoring of the boarding sections of schools for children with intellectual disabilities. This can help ensure and enhance the service quality of the boarding sections of schools for children with intellectual disabilities, and would in turn reduce the risk of boarders with intellectual disabilities being neglected or abused."
The Ombudsman has made 12 recommendations for improvement to the EDB, which include:
- enhance the content of the Practice Guide, having regard to the condition of the boarders with intellectual disabilities, and stipulate basic requirements for certain aspects of the day-to-day operation of the boarding sections of schools for children with intellectual disabilities (e.g. aspects involving the daily care of boarders and record-keeping), and require the schools to incorporate the EDB's basic requirements into the school-based policies and guidelines;
- require the boarding sections of schools for children with intellectual disabilities to install CCTV surveillance systems with recording function, and stipulate the basic requirements for CCTV installation in the Practice Guide;
- make arrangements for EDB staff to conduct random checks from time to time of the recorded footages of the CCTV surveillance system installed at the boarding sections;
- include the use of physical restraint or seclusion on boarders by the boarding sections as an item for review during inspections;
- formulate detailed and rigorous basic guidelines (including implementation procedures and monitoring mechanism) specific to the use of physical restraint and seclusion as a measure to manage boarders with intellectual disabilities losing control of their emotion and behaviour, and require the boarding sections of schools for children with intellectual disabilities to incorporate the guidelines into their school-based policies and guidelines;
- provide further guidelines on the design and facilities of seclusion space in the boarding sections of schools for children with intellectual disabilities with a view to protecting the children's safety;
- include observation of the environment of the boarding sections of schools for children with intellectual disabilities and daily lives of boarders in external school reviews;
- arrange surprise inspections at the boarding sections of schools for children with intellectual disabilities during both office and non-office hours, and draw up key performance indicators for inspections at the boarding section of each of those schools per school year;
- review and broaden the content of inspections at the boarding sections of schools for children with intellectual disabilities, including focusing on assessing the daily routine at the boarding sections, observing the physical and psychological well-being of boarders, and scrutinising the records of the boarders;
- devise clear arrangements and inspection indicators for the bureau's inspections at the boarding sections of schools for children with intellectual disabilities;
- explore the feasibility of arranging inspections at the boarding sections of schools for children with intellectual disabilities by professionals with qualifications in health care and social work, and of allowing parents to participate in the inspections; and
- strictly require the boarding sections of schools for children with intellectual disabilities to adhere to the requirements for reporting serious or life-threatening accidents and stipulate a clear deadline for submitting written reports.
The EDB has generally accepted all of the Office's recommendations.
The full investigation report has been uploaded to the website of the Office of The Ombudsman at www.ombudsman.hk for public information.
Ends/Thursday, April 27, 2023
Issued at HKT 12:30
Issued at HKT 12:30
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