A school for severely mentally handicapped children, Tai Po Hong Chi Association Pine Hill No. 2 School, has recently had a number of suspected child abuse cases, and the Serious Crimes Unit is investigating.
"Hong Kong 01" also exposed two years ago that the school children were pinched off their fingers by staff, tied for a long time, choked to the throat and died of brain stem.
Two years later, Cai Ruolian, director of the Education Bureau, made public the progress of the investigation for the first time, saying that there was no evidence of misconduct by faculty members.
A staff member said that over the past two years, schoolchildren have still been pinched by their hands, and parents are afraid to hold them accountable for fear that their children will not be able to study.
Legislative Councilor Leung Mei-fun is also concerned about two suspected child abuse incidents in the past three years, questioning the government's inaction, and the Labour and Welfare Bureau and the Education Bureau shirk their responsibilities.
Reporter: Li Yinglin
Photography: Ma Chufeng, Wang Haitu, Zhou Zhijian, Yu Junliang, Ou Jiale
Editing: Xiao Kunxiang
Special Schools Involved in Child Abuse・Special Page｜What happened to parents and staff after receiving the whistleblower letter
Child abuse in special schools・1｜Whistleblower letters and CCTV exposed parents and staff scolding school officials for being negative about child abuse in special schools・2｜Education Bureau investigated the accident two years ago: no evidence Staff: no improvement
01Exclusively exposed multiple cases of accidental pinching of fingers, throat and brain stem death
A child abuse scandal broke out at Hong Chi Songling No. 2 School earlier. Some people accused the school staff of covering the students' heads with clothes, violating the guidelines and using tools to restrain students for a long time. The video of the incident was even exposed.
In fact, it is not the first time that Hong Chi Pine Hill No. 2 School has been involved in child abuse incidents.
"Hong Kong 01" has exclusively reported that in 2019, a student in the school's dormitory had their finger cut off by a staff member using the door. CCTV footage proved the incident, and the school was involved in concealing the incident and changing its tune several times.
In addition, at that time, some school children were tied up and trapped in their rooms for a long time, and some children were suffocated to the brain stem to death while being fed.
On October 3, the director of the Education Bureau, Cai Ruolian, said in an interview for the first time that the bureau believes that there is insufficient evidence to show that the teachers or staff of Hong Chi Songling No. 2 School in 2019 had inappropriate behavior.
(File photo/Photo by Liao Yanxiong)
After two years of investigation, the Education Bureau finally opened its mouth: there is not enough evidence for wrongdoing
On October 3, the director of the Education Bureau, Cai Ruolian, said in an interview for the first time that the school had submitted a report on the case in 2019. After review, the bureau believed that there was insufficient evidence to show that teachers or staff had inappropriate behavior.
Former staff member B of Hong Chi Songling No. 2 School said that after the "Hong Kong 01" published a report in 2020 that the school social worker involved clipping the fingers of students, he still saw similar situations in the dormitory.
(Photo by Yu Junliang)
After the report was exposed, students were caught
However, the reporter came into contact with former staff B of the school. He said that after the report of "Hong Kong 01" was published in 2020, he still saw a similar situation in the dormitory.
B said that there was a teacher who pushed students into the room, the students struggled to push the door, and as a result, their forearms were caught by the door.
The student was screaming and crying, and his hands were red and swollen. The whole process lasted three minutes.
Afraid that parents who have no books to read will abandon the investigation
The school told the parents that it was the student who injured himself. B said that he only dared to tell the truth in private, but the parents said there was no way to pursue it: "If he speaks out, the children will not be able to study in this school, and it will be difficult to find other schools."
When the teacher tells the parents, it's the children who make up their own parents.
I told my parents that, in fact, the channel was caught by the teacher.
But there is no way for my parents to talk to me. If they speak out, the children can't study in the school, and it's hard to study in the second school.
Former staff member B (pseudonym) of Hong Chi Association Pine Hill No. 2 School
Leung Mei-fen, a member of the Pakatan Harapan Legislative Council, believes that the allegations in the whistle-blower letter require the school to explain whether it is professionally handling severely mentally handicapped children.
(File photo/Photo by Liao Yanxiong)
Liang Meifen: There is prima facie evidence that the Education Bureau of the Labor Welfare Bureau is playing football with each other
According to Leung Mei-fen, a member of the Pakatan Harapan Legislative Council, the second school in Songling was again suspected of child abuse, and CCTV footage was released on both occasions, which can provide prima facie evidence. However, the government has not monitored the past three years. Kicked each other and didn't deal with the problem.
She believes that the school needs to explain the allegations in the whistleblower letter and whether it is a professional approach to dealing with severely mentally handicapped children.
Liang Meifen also believes that the focus should not be on whether the person who broke the news has a personnel dispute with the school, nor should it be the former principal of the school or the current person in charge who handled the incident. The important thing is whether the problem has been handled and corrected: "We It must be on the side of protecting children.”
▼Hong Chi Songling No. 2 School has students wearing "caps"▼
Lai Peiwei, chairman of the Association for the Severely Mentally Handicapped, believes that only by completing the investigation report on the incident as soon as possible can the school reassure parents.
She said that people with severe intellectual disabilities do not know how to express their needs in words, but through behaviors. However, these behaviors may not be appropriate in the eyes of others. Therefore, she believes that special schools should strengthen training for employees: "I understand that these behaviors are not challenging, and they should deal with them. The method may be different, and there is no need to use constraints and isolation.”
▼Students from Hong Chi Songling No. 2 School were covered with saliva towels ▼
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Tai Po Hong Chi Songling No. 2 School Suspected of Child Abuse Cai Ruo-lin pointed out that 8 complaints and 2 cases of child abuse were suspected of child abuse at Tai Po Hong Chi Songling No. 2 School
▼Review the 2020 Songling Second School "Silent Scream" investigation report▼
Silent Scream・Special Page｜Revealing the shady stories of multiple incidents involving students in the dormitory of special schools with severe intellectual disabilities
Silent Scream・1｜The mentally handicapped child in the Hong Chi Association dormitory was pinched and fractured, the school was involved in concealing it for many times and changed his mouth to shout silently・2｜The intellectually handicapped child in the Hong Chi Association dormitory was locked in a small room for a long time, playing with feces on the chair and unreasonably shouting silently・3｜The intellectually handicapped child in Hong Chi Association was suffocated in the throat Facial blackness, brainstem death, three years of hospitalization, silent cry, four | School dormitories and private institutions have repeatedly exposed the flaws of the system to take care of the black holes