The School Immunisation Teams (SIT) under the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health implement two immunisation campaigns for primary one and six students, i.e. Diphtheria, Tetanus, Acellular Pertussis and Inactivated Poliovirus Vaccine in the first school term, and Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Varicella vaccine1 and Hepatitis B vaccine in the second school term.
Starting from the second school term of 2019/20 school year, SIT provide the first dose of Human Papilloma Virus vaccine (cervical cancer vaccine) to primary five female students at their schools, and the second dose when these girls reach primary six in the following school year. Details of the immunisation campaign are available at the Health Education 24 hours Hotline 2833 0111. SIT also deliver health education concerning school immunisation on a need or invitation basis. For any enquiries, schools may contact the School Immunisation Teams at 2615 8585 / 2615 8563 or 2615 8580 during service hours (Monday to Friday 9am-1pm, 2pm-5:30pm; Closed on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays).
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s1. The CHP assists schools to prevent and control communicable disease outbreaks.
For information on or notification of particular communicable diseases, schools may contact the Central Notification Office of the CHP (Tel: 2477 2772; Fax:
2477 2770).
2. Schools should refer to “Guidelines on Prevention of Communicable Diseases in Schools/Kindergartens/Kindergartens-cum-Child Care Centres/Child Care Centres” issued and distributed to schools by the CHP. The Guidelines and health information on common childhood communicable diseases can also be downloaded from the “CHP” website. The following practices will help handle such incidents effectively:
a. Designate a staff to take up the responsibility of coordinating and monitoring the implementation of preventive measures for communicable diseases.
1 Varicella vaccine has been incorporated into the Hong Kong Childhood Immunisation Programme and is applicable to children born on or after 1 January 2013. School Immunisation Teams would arrange MMRV vaccine for these children.
Children who were born before this date would continue to receive Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine.
b. Keep an up-to-date sick leave record of students and staff.
c. Obtain prior consent from parents/ guardians at the beginning of a school year for the release of their personal data, such as names and telephone numbers, to the CHP for investigation of communicable disease outbreaks in schools.
d. Inform CHP when there are signs of outbreak of communicable diseases or abnormal upsurge in the number of absentees with similar symptoms in the school.
3. When a student is obviously not well, the parents should be contacted in the first instance, if possible, and the student sent home with a note suggesting medical attention. If the student is seriously ill, he/ she should be sent to the nearby Accident and Emergency Department if the parents/ guardians cannot be contacted.
4. Schools should remind parents to keep sick children at home and not to bring them to school until symptoms have improved and fever has subsided for at least 2 days.
Schools should also require parents to notify the school immediately should their children develop symptoms of communicable diseases or be admitted to hospital.
5. Teachers or other staff with symptoms suggestive of tuberculosis should seek medical consultation promptly. If a student has such symptoms, the parents should be contacted and advised to seek medical consultation for the student.
For telephone numbers of the Chest Clinics, please browse the “Tuberculosis and Chest Service” at CHP website.
6. When the infectious period is over, students suffering from communicable diseases can resume schooling on the advice of their attending doctor. Students with antibiotics prescribed by doctor should follow the doctor’s advice when taking antibiotics and should not stop taking antibiotics on their own even if feeling better.
7. The recommended sick leave duration for some infections which may affect children is tabulated below:
Communicable
Disease Recommended Sick Leave Period#
Acute conjunctivitis
Until no abnormal secretion from the eyes
Bacillary dysentery*
Until diarrhoea ceases and at least 2 consecutive stool samples collected no less than 24 hours apart are tested negative for such bacteria (the first stool sample has to be collected 48 hours after the completion of the antibiotic course)
Chickenpox* About 1 week or until all vesicles have dried up
Cholera* Until non-infection is confirmed (test is to be done on three stool samples collected at least 1 day apart following 48 hours after the completion of the antibiotic course)
Communicable
Disease Recommended Sick Leave Period#
Diphtheria * Until non-infection is confirmed by negative result on sample culture test (test is to be done on two nasopharyngeal swabs collected at least 24 hours apart following 24 hours after the completion of the antibiotic course)
Hand, foot and mouth disease
Until all vesicles dry up or as advised by the doctor.
If enterovirus 71 is confirmed to be the pathogen, take 2 more weeks of sick leave after all vesicles have dried up.
Hepatitis A* Until at least 1 week after the appearance of jaundice or as advised by the doctor
Measles * 4 days after the day of appearance of rash
Mumps * 5 days after the day of appearance of gland swelling Rubella* 7 days after the day of appearance of rash
Scarlet fever* Until fever down and 24 hours after starting of appropriate antibiotic
Tuberculosis * As advised by the doctor
Typhoid fever* Until at least 3 consecutive stool samples collected no less than 24 hours apart are tested negative for such bacteria (the first stool sample has to be collected 48 hours after the completion of the antibiotic course)
Viral gastroenteritis
Until 48 hours after the last episode of diarrhoea or vomiting
Whooping cough *
5 days from starting the antibiotic course or as advised by the doctor
# The recommendation made above is based on the general infection period only.
Other factors, such as the clinical conditions of the sick child, have to be considered as well. The attending doctor should exercise his/ her professional judgement when making the final decision on the length of sick leave.
* Notification of these communicable diseases to the CHP is required by law.
The above list is not exhaustive. Information concerning other communicable diseases may be obtained from the Centre for Health Protection medical officers of schools as defined in S79 of the Education Ordinance. For more updated information, please browse the “Infection Control Corner” of the CHP website.
8. For the latest information, please browse:
a. “Virtual AIDS Office” webpage for current HIV situation and related guidelines b. “Prevention of Communicable Diseases in Schools” webpage
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l 1. Meal Arrangementsa. Schools should make their meal arrangements for pupils according to their individual situations. Normally, schools should arrange a lunch break of about 1 hour per school day. Schools should set up co-ordination groups to work out the healthy and environmentally friendly meal policy and practices for school, to supervise, co-ordinate and improve meal arrangements for their pupils. The group should be chaired by a senior member of the teaching staff and comprise teachers’ and parents’ representatives. Alternatively, schools may set up one committee overseeing tuck shops/vending machines, lunch arrangements and other trading activities.
b. To make the meal arrangements in schools more effective, schools should refer to the following documents to define food requirements and ways of waste reduction as the core component in the contracts signed with lunch suppliers:
EDBC017/2009 “Meal Arrangements in School”
EDBC003/2016 “Arrangements for Green Lunch and Reduction of Food Waste in School”
EDB “Guidelines on Meal Arrangements in School”
Department of Health “Nutritional Guidelines on Lunch for Students”
Department of Health “Classification of Food Items for School Lunch”
Department of Health “Nutritional Guidelines on Snacks for Students”
Department of Health “Handbook of Selection of Lunch Suppliers”
Environmental Protection Department “Guideline on How to Promote Green Lunch in Schools”.
c. The responsible team or committee is expected to perform the following duties:
request the lunch suppliers to provide documents to prove that they possess valid food factory licences from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department with endorsement for the manufacture/ preparation of lunch boxes;
assist to establish appropriate procedures to select the lunch supplier most capable of providing nutritious and environmentally friendly meals for pupils. Reference can be made to “Contact Information of School Lunch Suppliers” and “Salt Reduction Scheme for School Lunches – Database of Participating Lunch Suppliers” of the Department of Health);
take notice of the nutrition value of the food (reference can be made to the
“Classification of Food Items for School Lunch”, issued by the Department of Health), the method of packing, transportation and treatment of the used containers used by the lunch suppliers;
encourage the lunch suppliers to use reusable containers and cutlery such as those made of stainless steel and plastic for the meal boxes;
discuss with lunch suppliers and parents on the provision of fruit in schools so that students can have at least one serving of fruit at school per day;
ensure that the school lunch provides at least one serving of vegetables;
encourage parents to co-operate by providing healthy meal boxes/ snacks for their children and to cultivate in them healthy and environmentally friendly eating habits;
discourage students from patronizing illegal hawkers and purchasing unhealthy lunch/snacks;
assist teachers to enhance pupils’ knowledge about healthy and environmentally friendly eating and to inform parents of the healthy and environmentally friendly policy on meal arrangement adopted by the school; and
request tuck shop/vending machine operators to sell and promote healthy snacks.
School should refer to the “Nutritional Guidelines on Snacks for Students” issued by the Department of Health and make good use of the “Healthy Snack Checker”
available at the “EatSmart@school.hk” Campaign webpage of the Department of Health to facilitate the identification of healthy snacks.
d. Schools should strive to provide a positive and enabling environment so that students are encouraged and supported to practise healthy eating and active living.
Where schools may exercise control, students’ access to unhealthy foods (meals and snacks) should be limited and reduced as far as possible, coupled with stakeholder communication and education. Specific examples that merit attention may include:
Not accepting commercial sponsorships that promote unhealthy food products or brands;
Not allowing tuck shop/vending machine to offer unhealthy snacks to students;
Avoidance of using food items as gifts and rewards to children.
2. “EatSmart@school.hk” Campaign
a. The Department of Health (DH), together with the Education Bureau, organise the
“EatSmart@school.hk” Campaign (consisting of three major components, namely
“EatSmart School Accreditation Scheme”, “Joyful Fruit Month”, and “Salt Reduction Scheme for School Lunches”) to promote healthy eating among students in primary schools. Professional advice is offered by the DH for the formulation of healthy eating policies, as well as the planning, organisation and implementation of health enhancing interventions and activities. The DH also provides guidelines to help schools in the selection of school lunch suppliers, surveillance of nutritional quality of school meals and choice of healthy snacks.
Schools are encouraged to join the “EatSmart@school.hk” Campaign and obtain accreditation.
b. For detailed information, please refer to EDBC017/2009 “Meal Arrangements in School” and “EatSmart@school.hk Campaign” webpage of the Department of Health.
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plleess1. The school should be a place where care, concern, support and mutual respect are practised. Such principles should be strictly observed in handling students with discipline problems. All teachers should understand that discipline is the concern of every teacher and not just of discipline teachers. Hence, a Whole School Approach to discipline, involving teachers, students and their parents, should be adopted.
2. Every school should have its own discipline policy and procedures, and a discipline team headed by the discipline master/ mistress to oversee the planning, organization, development and monitoring of matters relating to student discipline at school. School should formulate policy and measures to prevent students’
behavioural problems, such as bullying, discrimination and sexual harassment, etc., in order to cultivate a safe and orderly learning environment for the students. The school should refer to “Guidelines on Student Discipline” (1999).
3. The guidance and discipline teams are the two most important pastoral service teams in the school. The two teams should join hands in helping students with discipline problems. Some schools may prefer a discipline-cum-guidance team to foster better coordination and cooperation between the two units. Schools should encourage the teachers to attend the professional training related to the guidance and discipline work, e.g. the courses organized by the tertiary institutes as well as the thematic seminars and workshops organized by EDB.
4. Wherever possible, good discipline should be achieved through democratic rather than autocratic means.
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leess1. School rules are a system of rules for conduct. The system should aim at developing self-discipline in students and creating a harmonious environment where effective learning and teaching can take place.
2. The basic belief of an “Educative Approach to Discipline” is that most students misbehave not out of willful decision to misbehave. They need guidance from teachers to steer them towards the appropriate response in class and during social interactions.
3. A set of school rules should be drawn up with input from teachers, parents and students. Besides, discussion and promotion activities can be organized to enable students to apprehend the meaning of the school rules as well as to reach a common understanding and consensus towards school rules. Students and parents should be provided with a school document setting out the specific rules of the school prior to admission and at the beginning of each school year. Schools should also review the school rules periodically.
4. The school rules should cover basic behaviour of students around the school.
5. Schools should make reference to the Guide on “Racial Equality and School Uniform” issued by the Equal Opportunities Commission when drawing up school rules relating to school uniform.
6. School rules should be :
a. simple, clear, reasonable and kept to a minimum;
b. meant to teach, guide and protect students; and c. enforced fairly and consistently.
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ngg ppoossiittiivvee bbeehhaavviioouurr1. Good discipline is not just a matter of rules and punishment. Schools should make good use of praise and rewards to promote students’ good behaviour.
2. A system of commendations or merit marks can be very effective in motivating students to strive for positive achievements and improvements.
3. Students with successful experiences will strive towards greater achievement.
Schools may set up their own awards schemes to give students encouragement for improvement. Students who work hard and attain improvement in academic attainment, extra-curricular activities, conduct, service or overall performance can be nominated for awards to recognize their efforts and encourage them to strive for even better results.
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Haannddlliinngg mmiissbbeehhaavviioouurr 1. General principlesa. The purpose of all disciplinary measures is to bring about positive changes in students’ behaviour and to teach them self-discipline.
b. School Personnel (including school staff and those employed through hiring of services from other organizations) should understand the causes of students’
misbehavior and are encouraged to adopt more positive means to help students improve inappropriate behaviour.
c. Clear guidelines on disciplinary procedures should be drawn up and discussed among staff so as to maintain fairness and consistency during implementation.
d. There is also a need to let parents know about the disciplinary system and measures within the school prior to admission and / or at the beginning of each school year.
e. Whenever necessary, schools may approach the respective Regional Education Offices for consultation and professional support regarding students with persistent lack of academic progress or behaviour problems.