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The 14-year-old is a Form Three pupil at Chong Gene Hang College in Chai Wan. Photo: Wikipedia

Hong Kong school says it will not expel second teen shot by police during anti-mask protest, even if he is convicted of crime

  • Chong Gene Hang College in Chai Wan makes pledge with vice-principal saying it has responsibility to lead pupil to ‘right path’
  • Form Three pupil has been charged with rioting and assaulting police

The school of a 14-year-old boy who was shot in the leg by police during an anti-mask law protest in Yuen Long last Friday will not expel him – even if he is convicted.

Chong Gene Hang College in Chai Wan made the pledge on Tuesday, a day after Communist Party mouthpiece Xinhua accused another school of “harbouring a violent student criminal” by promising not to expel an 18-year-old, who was shot in the chest by police during the National Day protests on October 1.

“He’s one of our students,” said Wong Sai-yiu, the school’s vice-principal. “We have a responsibility to lead him to the right path, and the first thing is that we promise he will not be expelled from school.

“He is young, he still needs to complete his studies in future no matter what.”

But Wong also said the student would not be attending school in the near future, because he would need to take a long rest as well as possibly undergo physiotherapy.

Wong also told the Post on Tuesday that as far as he knew, the teenager remained in a stable condition after undergoing an operation in Tuen Mun Hospital.

The Form Three student was arrested for rioting and assaulting police.

School representatives had not had the chance to visit the boy yet, Wong said, adding the parents had preferred to “keep a low profile”.

He said social workers and an educational psychologist were stationed at the school to provide counselling services to other pupils.

The 14-year-old was the second person wounded by police live rounds since anti-government protests started in early June. The government introduced an anti-mask law on Saturday, prompting violent protests against the ban.

We have always appealed to students not to break the law and to avoid going near [protests sites], but whether students listen – that’s out of our control
Chong Gene Hang College vice-principal Wong Sai-yiu

The other shooting involved Form Five pupil Tsang Chi-kin, who was shot during a protest in Tsuen Wan. Tsang has been charged with rioting and two counts of assaulting police.

On Monday, Xinhua attacked Tsang’s school, Tsuen Wan Public Ho Chuen Yiu Memorial College, in a commentary over its public commitment promising he would not be expelled.

The article was critical of the school for failing to mention anything about what the Chinese state media outlet said were the violent crimes committed by Tsang.

It said teachers “should not shed their responsibilities” for students’ violent behaviour by citing the proverb, “spare the rod and spoil the child”.

That came after former Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying and vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference criticised the school in a series of Facebook posts as well as in a letter sent to the school’s principal last week, as he repeatedly called for the school to expel the student.

When asked whether the comments had put pressure on schools, Wong said such “criticisms cannot be avoided”, although he said the school had not been subjected to any “external pressure”.

He stressed the school “is not in a position to enforce the law”.

“We have always appealed to students not to break the law and to avoid going near [protests sites], but whether students listen – that’s out of our control,” Wong said.

Meanwhile, at Tsang’s school, a small group of students placed new paper cranes on the fence outside the school, in a show of support for the teenager, while some stuck anti-government posters on the walls.

A Form Three student surnamed Ng said some notes and paper cranes outside school were destroyed earlier, so she wanted to show her blessings by replacing them.

Hong Kong students take anti-mask law protests back to school

The Post has approached Tsang’s college for comments about Xinhua’s criticism.

Asked about the Xinhua article, the Education Bureau did not comment specifically on the piece in a written reply to the Post, and only said schools should always “take positive steps” to correct students’ wrong behaviours and guide them to “distinguish right and wrong”.

Students accused of a crime should receive a fair trial at court, as they should also receive guidance and discipline support from schools, the bureau said.

Additional reporting by Kelly Ho and Zoe Low

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: School rules out expelling teen who was shot by police
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