Pupil takes his own life after school marks drop
Former top student's performance suffered on switch to English medium
A Form Seven student said to have been struggling after a switch to learning in English plunged 14 floors to his death yesterday.
Yeung Hau-ping, 17, an only child, was found by his father about 2am, lying in an alley behind the building in Des Voeux Road West where they lived. Police said he left two notes in his bedroom saying he was unhappy.
Family members said Hau-ping had been in the top 10 students at St Stephen's Church College in Pokfulam Road from Form One to Five.
But his performance had suffered since a change to English as the teaching medium in Form Six.
Principal Wong Shiu-ha said the 'quiet, hard-working' student had given no indication he was having trouble studying in English, to which all students at the school switch in Form Six.
Police said the mainland-born boy's 46-year-old father went looking for him when he noticed him missing from his bedroom.
The boy was taken to Queen Mary Hospital, where he was declared dead just before 2.30am.
The father, a decoration worker, said he had recently told his son the family would not be able to afford to send him overseas to study.
'I never put pressure on him,' the father said.
A female relative said the 'good and hard-working' boy's academic performance had got worse after the change to English learning.
'He apparently failed to cope with the new teaching medium and gave himself pressure,' she said.
'During the summer holidays, he spent most of his time at home studying. He worked very hard.'
After scoring 21 points in the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination, Hau-ping could only muster 48 marks in Chinese Language, English Language and Pure Mathematics in Form Six. The pass mark is 50.
Ms Wong said teachers and students were saddened.
'He was very concerned about his academic work,' she said.
'But he did not tell our teachers that he had problems coping with English as the medium of instruction and he never sought help from our social worker or demand counselling.'
Ms Wong said the school offered a two-week English course to Form Five students before they moved up. Form Six students were also required to attend a three-week intensive English programme in the summer holidays.
Two educational psychologists and five social workers were sent to counsel students. The Education and Manpower Bureau said students who found themselves in difficulty should seek help.
The suicide, the first by a student this school year, came a day after a couple, both teachers, killed themselves three hours apart.
In the previous school year, seven pupils committed suicide, compared with 19 in 2003-04.
Professional Teachers' Union president Cheung Man-kwong described the incident as 'an avoidable tragedy'.
He urged schools not to switch the language of learning, saying: 'Of course students find it hard to cope, and see a drastic drop in grades. Such a change has a big impact on students and they will easily get frustrated because of it.'
Mr Cheung, also a legislator representing the education sector, said the present system did not require students to learn in English during the matriculation course. He added: 'And they can just take A-Level examinations in Chinese.'
