LCQ17: Disaster prevention education
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Question:
There are views that the Wang Fuk Court fire in Tai Po serves as a wake-up call for disaster prevention education in Hong Kong, and that it is necessary for the Government to strengthen relevant education at both school and community levels. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the data for fire drills conducted in secondary schools, primary schools and kindergartens across the territory over the past three years (including the number of drills and the number of teachers and students participating); whether the authorities have grasped the number of schools which have failed to conduct fire drills once every six months as required by the Education Bureau (EDB);
(2) whether it will consider updating regulations and guidelines issued by the EDB on disaster prevention drills, requiring schools to introduce advanced drills such as "unannounced drills" or "simulation of scenarios involving trapped persons" to enhance response capability of teachers and students in the event of an actual incident;
(3) as there are views that current disaster prevention education in primary and secondary schools is rather fragmented, with content scattering across different subjects, and in the light of diverse disasters in modern society, will the authorities consider consolidating existing disaster prevention teaching materials to produce different levels of "teaching kit for disaster prevention activities", and establishing a "Disaster Prevention Education Day" to raise awareness of disaster prevention among teachers and students;
(4) whether it will draw up practical guidelines for schools on responding to fire incidents for adherence by school teaching staff, while strengthening relevant training for teachers to ensure that they are capable for leading students to escape in the event of a fire; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(5) as there are views pointing out that the Fire and Ambulance Services Education Centre Cum Museum, currently located at Pak Shing Kok, Tseung Kwan O, is relatively remote, and that the quota for admission is limited, whether the authorities will draw on the experience of the Public Safety Education Training Base in Shanghai to establish a regional disaster prevention experience centre with simulated real-life scenarios, or utilise disused school premises to set up mobile experience centres, so as to popularise realistic training; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The Government attaches great importance to students' safety and reminds schools to properly implement fire precautions and enhance students' awareness of disaster prevention through disaster prevention education. Having regard to school-based circumstances, schools should identify, assess, control, and mitigate risks (including fire risk) at an early stage and formulate emergency response plans to be continuously monitored and updated in a timely manner, with a view to building a safe school environment. In consultation with the Security Bureau and the Fire Services Department (FSD), the consolidated reply to the question raised by the Hon Ken Wong is as follows:
(1) to (4) To mitigate the risk of fire and enhance students' awareness and thus safeguarding their well-being, the Education Bureau (EDB) has issued guidelines and letters to remind schools of the importance of complying with the requirements stipulated in the Education Regulations and other relevant legislation, and implementing fire precautions and conducting fire drills properly to enhance the crisis awareness, responsiveness and execution capabilities of school staff and students in the event of a fire through regular drills. Schools should arrange regular inspections for all fire service installations and equipment on the school premises to ensure their good condition at all times. Fire extinguishers should be easily accessible. Additional fire extinguishers and/or fire blankets should be available in special rooms in schools, such as laboratories, design and technology/visual arts/art rooms, and computer rooms, in accordance with fire safety requirements. Schools are also reminded that server rooms, which accommodate a large number of electronic equipment, warrant particular attention to fire safety.
Conducting fire drills is of high importance. According to Section 38(1) of the Education Regulations (Cap. 279A), the head of every school shall draw up a practical scheme for the evacuation of the school premises in case of fire, ensure that a fire drill including the use of all exits from the school premises is carried out by the teachers and students at least once in every six months (including the boarding section of the school), and keep a written record of all such drills in a school log book, such as the time taken to evacuate the school premises during each fire drill. The EDB does not compile statistics regarding fire drills conducted in schools.
Furthermore, the FSD has provided schools with specific guidelines on drawing up emergency evacuation plans, which cover sample diagrams of the evacuation routes and actions to be taken by school staff and management staff upon discovery of fire, noticing fire alarm signal or during emergency evacuation. To enhance crisis awareness among teachers and students, schools may make fine adjustments to the simulated fire location, evacuation routes, etc, for each fire drill, lest they get used to the plan. Schools may also contact the FSD to arrange for fire safety talks, so as to enhance the fire safety knowledge and awareness of school staff and strengthen their capabilities to lead students to escape in the event of a fire.
In respect of disaster prevention education, related learning content has always been embedded in various topics across the primary and secondary school curricula according to students' cognitive abilities and developmental level. For example, the Primary Humanities curriculum enables students to understand safety precautions and contingency measures when engaging in activities under different weather conditions, as well as the impact of natural environmental changes on people and corresponding response strategies. The Secondary Geography curriculum further allows students to understand different types of natural hazards (such as earthquakes, floods and landslides) and their impacts, as well as the preventive and remedial measures adopted in Hong Kong and other regions, thereby enhancing students' disaster-prevention awareness. For teaching resources, the Primary Humanities webpage has already featured a designated section on "Disaster Prevention Education". The resources uploaded include the EDB's educational multimedia videos, as well as the "Fire Escape" and "Safety Tips for Travellers" booklets produced by the FSD; while the "Geography Online Game Platform for Understanding Our Motherland" features interactive learning tasks, including the "Natural Hazard Exhibition Hall" and the "Hazard Prevention and Mitigation Challenge". All the above resources can further enhance students' understanding of the related response measures, thereby enhancing their disaster prevention awareness.
(5) The FSD attaches great importance to public fire safety education, including actively applying innovative technologies to enhance the interactivity and realism of education and training. The objective is to enable the public to acquire and practise emergency response skills in simulated yet safe situations, thereby strengthening the overall fire prevention awareness and self-rescue capabilities. As early as 2020, the FSD introduced the "Emergency Preparedness Education Bus", which features a virtual reality game and an interactive firefighting simulation system. This allows participants to experience escaping from a fire scene, operating fire extinguishers, and using hose reels to put out a fire, etc, thereby learning the skills of "Extinguish and Prevent Fire", "Self-help and Help Others" and "Escape and Evacuate" under the "Three Basic Skills on Emergency Preparedness", and enhancing the participants' self-help capabilities.
To further enhance community safety education, the FSD is planning to set up two Disaster Prevention Experience Centres in Wan Chai and Tseung Kwan O. The centres will feature physical training facilities and high-tech experiential equipment that simulate various scenarios, focusing on themes such as community life support, fire safety, counter-terrorism preparedness and disaster preparedness, with an aim to equip the public with comprehensive knowledge of emergency preparedness and enhance their capabilities to respond to emergencies.
Ends/Wednesday, March 25, 2026
Issued at HKT 14:10
Issued at HKT 14:10
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