Parents and students from Tak Sun School hope for the principal's return

Parents and students hoped the head of Tak Sun School could return to the school soon after he was put on leave for an unspecified reason.

They were told by the school on this Tuesday (June 15) through circulars that Henry Kwok Chiu-kwan “could not discharge his duties as a principal” and had to go on leave, with the deputy principal Lee Mei-ngan acting in his position.

The Catholic boy’s primary school located in Jordan has been known for organizing June 4th prayer meetings in memory of those who died in the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.

The aided school itself, its sponsoring body East Asian Educational Association, and the Education Bureau have yet to explain the reason why Kwok is on leave.

Students returning to school today as well as their parents were shocked by the news of the principal. 

In response to whether the principal being on leave might be linked to the June 4 prayer meetings, a father surnamed Wong said “ I don’t know, I want him to continue to be here. Let’s not think about politics, think about organizing the school, he’s a good principal.”

Wong praised Kwok for designing a school curriculum that that is suitable for boys, adding that the school did not further explain why Kwok is on leave.

“I only know that the principal is on leave yesterday (June 15),” Lo, another father of a student from Sun Tak School, said. “I hope to see him back to school after a week.”

A father, surnamed Choi, who was sending his kid in primary six off to school was shocked by the circular on Tuesday, saying Kwok is an action type of principle that has perseverance in teaching reform.

Choi recalled when his son first started school, Kwok decided his school should use Cantones to teach Chinese when other schools in Hong Kong promoted using Putonghua instead. Such a move has left a deep impression on Choi. 

He added that the school has held mainland exchange tours in recent years, saying “the principal had explained that students should understand about the country from a young age.”

A primary four student surnamed Chan said he felt shocked when he heard about the principal on leave and that teachers did not tell him about the reason behind it.

“He’s pretty good and quite friendly,” Chan added.

Kwok has been Tak Sun School’s principal for about eight years since 2013. He has won the Certificate of Merit in the Chief Executive’s Award for Teacher Excellence 2010/2011 in moral and civic education. 

The Education Bureau said it was notified by the school about Kwok being on leave and will continue to communicate with the school to assist its normal operation. 

East Asian Education Association said the sponsoring body is expecting a satisfactory solution to "this temporary situation".

"The vice principal is running well the day by day affairs of the school, and the daily life of the students has not been affected," EAEA spokesman said.