Hong Kong primary school principal, operator of tutoring centre arrested on suspicion of corruption over exam paper leak

The principal of a government-subsidised Hong Kong primary school has been arrested on suspicion of corruption after several internal exam papers were believed to have been leaked to a local tutoring centre.

In a statement on Friday, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said the school head was arrested last Saturday. Though the statement did not name the suspect, a source told the Post that the principal in question was Kwok Chiu-kwan, of the well-known Tak Sun School in Jordan.

The agency said in its statement that the operator of the tutoring centre was also arrested in connection with the investigation, adding that inquiries were continuing and that authorities would be liaising with the Education Bureau and the school.

“During the ICAC operation, examination papers belonging to the primary school were seized at the tutorial centre. The examination papers included those involving different classes of the third school term and covering various subjects,” the statement said.

“Initial inspections revealed that the contents of the worksheets of the tutorial centre were largely the same or similar to the school examination papers seized.”

An Education Bureau spokeswoman on Friday urged the public to refrain from conjecture about the case to avoid negatively affecting teachers and pupils at the school. She added the bureau would provide “all necessary assistance” to the ICAC, but declined to comment further.