In our schools, teachers who have stepped forward to serve as Honorary VSC officers, in other words, many of you here - you make a difference to your school disciplinary environment. Decline in Youth Crime 4 Last year, there was a 17 per cent drop in the number of youths arrested from January to September 2000 compared to figures of youths arrested for the first three quarters of 1999. When compared with the statistics two years ago in 1998 over the same nine-month period, the drop is 44 percent. All of you here have played a key role in helping to steer our youths away from the influence of crimes. However, as I have said before, let me repeat it here.
Statistics only tell part of the story.
Every young offender is an unnecessary potential waste of a life. We must press on with our efforts to steer every young life to keep to the straight and narrow path. Not only does the scheme enable schools to deal with the problem of student delinquency more effectively, it also fosters stronger links between the schools and their immediate community agencies. The Scheme was first piloted in 1997 with just 11 teachers. There was initial apprehension.