Hong Kong protests: Ying Wa College pupils defiant after principal vows disciplinary action and Education Bureau ‘highly concerned’ over campus rally

Students at Ying Wa College held event to mark death of protester last year and chanted pro-independence slogans

Principal says incident is being taken ‘very seriously’, but pupil involved says there is ‘nothing to fear’

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Students at Ying Wa College held the event on the school’s basketball court where they chanted pro-independence slogans and sang the anti-government movement anthem Glory to Hong Kong. Photo: YouTube

Published: 9:51am, 19 Jun 2020Updated: 5:19pm, 20 Jun 2020

Pupils at an elite boys’ school in Hong Kong remained defiant on Friday after their principal warned that disciplinary action would be taken against those who ignored the education minister to launch an anti-government protest on campus, with one activist vowing they would continue to speak out.

The Education Bureau was expected to get involved in the fallout over the break-time rally staged at Ying Wa College earlier this week by dozens of students in support of Hong Kong independence, an incident the school was taking “very seriously”.

A spokesman said the bureau was “highly concerned” about the event on Monday, when about 80 pupils at the school in Sham Shui Po chanted slogans including “Hong Kong independence, the only way out”, and sang the anti-government movement’s anthem, Glory to Hong Kong.

Organised by the school’s pro-democracy student concern group, the event was held to mark the first anniversary of the death of protester Leung Ling-kit, who died after falling from scaffolding in Admiralty last June.

Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung has told schools to discipline pupils who bring politics into the classroom. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Last week, Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung told pupils not to chant slogans or sing songs with political messages as it was “clearly propaganda”, adding schools should discipline those who refused to stop after being asked to do so by teachers.

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