Innovative head comes out of retirement to run new school

BY RIGHTS, HENRY POON CHUN-KAU should be enjoying leisurely dim-sum lunches and living the easy life of retirement. Instead, the veteran principal, who retired from St Paul's Co-Educational College in 2004, is back patrolling the playground, having taken up the daunting challenge of starting up a new school with lofty ideals.

'I thought this might be the last chance for me to implement my educational philosophy,' he said. 'Even at St Paul's Co-Ed, there were many projects I didn't have time to implement.'

Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups Lee Shau Kee Secondary School, which opened its doors to students for the first time yesterday, stands on the periphery of Tin Shui Wai, surrounded by towering apartment blocks on one side and building sites and other clusters of equally new-looking school buildings on the other.

The students' self-study areas on the top floor command an imposing view across the Hong Kong Wetland Park to the border and Shenzhen, though this is soon to be screened by a new public housing estate under construction. Despite the greenery and the space, Tin Shui Wai is not the sort of glamorous educational district one might expect to attract the former principal of one of Hong Kong's most prestigious schools.

This is no ordinary school - Mr Poon has been lured by the prospect of putting into practice educational ideals held dear by both himself and the federation's executive director, Rosanna Wong Yick-ming, who is also chairwoman of the Education Commission.

The English medium school is to test out reforms that aim to boost students' confidence and turn them into self-reliant, active learners and is likely to be one of a number that will be watched closely by education experts and policymakers in the coming years.