Vice-principal puts music at core of learning in primary school
Knowing how out of tune rigid academic styles can be, a teacher brings the healing power of music to a school in need, writes Kate Whitehead
Nobody would have thought the accidental poster boy for students with lacklustre grades would go on to become a head of a school. Yet vice-principal Kenyon Law Kin-yeung managed to get here, in an academic turnaround made possible by the power of music.
Learning music is a human right, asserts Law, 31, who for more than a decade has spent his energy - and some say his pay - on ensuring quality education for Christian Alliance S.Y. Yeh Memorial Primary School in Tin Shui Wai, one of Hong Kong's troubled districts.
There is no doubt that music has helped draw students and staff closer at the school - a strong bond that remains long after the children graduate.
"Music helps students relax and release their worries. It can boost their confidence and help in the positive development of their character," says Law.
However, for many children in Tin Shui Wai, music lessons are out of reach as their parents do not have the means to pay for private tutors.
Confronted with this reality, the first thing Law did was to buy, out of his own pocket, a bell plate for the school. Later, he applied to the Quality Education Fund for HK$200,000 to purchase a set of handbells.
Such instruments are significant to Law, and can be traced back to the days when he was struggling to prove himself academically.