Ex-primary school principal charged by ICAC gets four years and three months’ jail for MIPO over exam questions leak to tutorial centre
2025-11-3
A former principal of a government-aided primary school and a close friend of him, charged by the ICAC, were today (November 3) sentenced at the District Court to jail terms of four years and three months and three years respectively for conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office (MIPO) by concealing that the principal had funded the personal friend to set up a tutorial centre near the school and leaked confidential examination and quiz questions of the school to the latter before the examinations and quizzes.
Henry Kwok Chiu-kwan, 53, former principal of Tak Sun School, was sentenced to four years and three months’ imprisonment; Pang Wing-han, 48, former director-cum-shareholder of Diligence Learning Centre Limited (DLC), was jailed for three years.
The duo were earlier found guilty after trial of one count of conspiracy to commit MIPO, contrary to the Common Law and section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance. Kwok was further found guilty of one count of MIPO.
In sentencing, Judge Mrs Adriana Noelle Tse Ching reprimanded Kwok for premeditated the well-planned scam for his own financial gain. She noted that both defendants were dishonest and their acts had constituted a gross breach of trust which undermined the public’s confidence in the examination system. The judge did not accept the mitigation by the duo and made no reduction in their jail terms.
An ICAC spokesperson noted that school principals play a pivotal role in school-based management and must constantly uphold the highest standards of integrity, leading by example. The ICAC has long been committed to fostering a culture of probity in the education sector, continuously offering integrity training to educational staff, and recommends that schools refer to the Commission’s Best Practice Checklist on Governance and Internal Control in Schools to effectively implement sound school-based management.
At the material time, Kwok, who was the principal of Tak Sun School, and Pang, the parent of an alumnus of the school, were close friends. In mid-June 2017, Pang, together with a business partner, set up DLC and became its director and major shareholder. DLC ran a tutorial centre near Tak Sun School providing examination tutorial classes to students, most of whom came from Tak Sun School.
The court heard that Tak Sun School and the Education Bureau (EDB) had received complaints alleging that Kwok was associated with DLC, and that the questions in the exercises provided by DLC were very similar to those of the examination papers of Tak Sun School. Responding to the Incorporated Management Committee (IMC) of Tak Sun School and the EDB, Kwok claimed that he had no association with DLC. He also stated in the four annual declarations of interest forms submitted to Tak Sun School that he and his direct relatives had no financial interests in any organisations which had official dealings with the school.
The ICAC investigation stemmed from a corruption complaint. Enquiries revealed that Kwok transferred a sum of $420,000 to the bank account of Pang for the operation of DLC in late July 2017.
The court heard that examination papers of all subjects of the school were vetted and approved by Kwok in his capacity as the school principal. Computer forensics investigation by the ICAC found that in the two academic years between 2019 and 2021, Kwok had passed soft copies of confidential examination and quiz questions of Tak Sun School, including those of core subjects such as Chinese Language, English Language and Mathematics of all grades, to Pang on various occasions before the scheduled examinations and quizzes.
The two defendants were arrested by ICAC officers in June 2021, and examination papers of all subjects of Primary 1 to 6 of Tak Sun School were seized at the tutorial centre of DLC. Questions on Tak Sun School’s examination papers were identical or very similar to those of the exercises of the tutorial centre.
As the examination papers concerned covered core subjects of Primary 5 involving examination results to be submitted to the EDB for the purpose of secondary school places allocation, Tak Sun School eventually did not submit the relevant results to the EDB and arranged students to re-sit the relevant examinations upon the approval of the EDB in September 2021 to safeguard the fairness of the examination and school places allocation.
The EDB and IMC of Tak Sun School rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
The prosecution was today represented by Senior Public Prosecutor Antony Leung, assisted by ICAC officers Kenny Wong and Phoebe Chan.
Henry Kwok Chiu-kwan, 53, former principal of Tak Sun School, was sentenced to four years and three months’ imprisonment; Pang Wing-han, 48, former director-cum-shareholder of Diligence Learning Centre Limited (DLC), was jailed for three years.
The duo were earlier found guilty after trial of one count of conspiracy to commit MIPO, contrary to the Common Law and section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance. Kwok was further found guilty of one count of MIPO.
In sentencing, Judge Mrs Adriana Noelle Tse Ching reprimanded Kwok for premeditated the well-planned scam for his own financial gain. She noted that both defendants were dishonest and their acts had constituted a gross breach of trust which undermined the public’s confidence in the examination system. The judge did not accept the mitigation by the duo and made no reduction in their jail terms.
An ICAC spokesperson noted that school principals play a pivotal role in school-based management and must constantly uphold the highest standards of integrity, leading by example. The ICAC has long been committed to fostering a culture of probity in the education sector, continuously offering integrity training to educational staff, and recommends that schools refer to the Commission’s Best Practice Checklist on Governance and Internal Control in Schools to effectively implement sound school-based management.
At the material time, Kwok, who was the principal of Tak Sun School, and Pang, the parent of an alumnus of the school, were close friends. In mid-June 2017, Pang, together with a business partner, set up DLC and became its director and major shareholder. DLC ran a tutorial centre near Tak Sun School providing examination tutorial classes to students, most of whom came from Tak Sun School.
The court heard that Tak Sun School and the Education Bureau (EDB) had received complaints alleging that Kwok was associated with DLC, and that the questions in the exercises provided by DLC were very similar to those of the examination papers of Tak Sun School. Responding to the Incorporated Management Committee (IMC) of Tak Sun School and the EDB, Kwok claimed that he had no association with DLC. He also stated in the four annual declarations of interest forms submitted to Tak Sun School that he and his direct relatives had no financial interests in any organisations which had official dealings with the school.
The ICAC investigation stemmed from a corruption complaint. Enquiries revealed that Kwok transferred a sum of $420,000 to the bank account of Pang for the operation of DLC in late July 2017.
The court heard that examination papers of all subjects of the school were vetted and approved by Kwok in his capacity as the school principal. Computer forensics investigation by the ICAC found that in the two academic years between 2019 and 2021, Kwok had passed soft copies of confidential examination and quiz questions of Tak Sun School, including those of core subjects such as Chinese Language, English Language and Mathematics of all grades, to Pang on various occasions before the scheduled examinations and quizzes.
The two defendants were arrested by ICAC officers in June 2021, and examination papers of all subjects of Primary 1 to 6 of Tak Sun School were seized at the tutorial centre of DLC. Questions on Tak Sun School’s examination papers were identical or very similar to those of the exercises of the tutorial centre.
As the examination papers concerned covered core subjects of Primary 5 involving examination results to be submitted to the EDB for the purpose of secondary school places allocation, Tak Sun School eventually did not submit the relevant results to the EDB and arranged students to re-sit the relevant examinations upon the approval of the EDB in September 2021 to safeguard the fairness of the examination and school places allocation.
The EDB and IMC of Tak Sun School rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
The prosecution was today represented by Senior Public Prosecutor Antony Leung, assisted by ICAC officers Kenny Wong and Phoebe Chan.