Protests outside Hong Kong church over ‘mismanagement’ and fire safety issues at international school it runs
Group of parents and teachers call for board of Christian Alliance International School to stand down when its term ends in August
Parents and teachers from an international school protested on Sunday outside the church that oversees it, accusing it of poor management including hiding a fire safety issue on a new Lai Chi Kok campus.
The group also called for the Christian Alliance International School’s board members to step down when their terms are up in August and bring parents onto the body.
As church-goers arrived at the Kowloon Tong Church of the Chinese Christian and Missionary Alliance for the Sunday service at 10.30am, the group of about 30 – mainly parents and a few teachers – gathered. They held placards declaring that the school was being mismanaged and the church had not listened to their complaints.
They handed out copies of a letter addressed to the congregation, detailing their concerns and requests, including their claim that the school’s board members hid “a major fire safety issue” from parents, teachers and pupils. They said the issue had “jeopardised the lives of more than 1,000 people from mid-April to now”.
According to a source close to the matter, the issue involved the automatic sprinkler system at the new campus not working, caused by an adapter damaged by dripping water. But the source noted that the sprinklers could still be activated manually and the fire alarms were working. In any case, he noted, the system had since been fixed.
The protesters slammed the board – known as the registered management committee – for “intentionally [failing] to disclose to parents that there is no outdoor play area” before moving into its new campus in Butterfly Valley.