SINGAPORE, July 22 — A student from St Joseph’s Institution (SJI) was taken to hospital today after falling from a height.
In a statement, the police said that they received a call for help at 38 Malcolm Road, the address of the school, at 11.38am today.
“A male teenager had fallen from height and was conscious when conveyed to the hospital,” they added.
No foul play is suspected.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force said that it had received a call for help at the same address at 11.40am and took a person to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
Lee Kok Fatt, chairman of SJI’s board of governors, told TODAY that the injured student was a 15-year-old boy in Year 3.
The incident happened after recess around 11.30am and he had fallen from the fourth floor of the school building.
“The school was notified and, as soon as possible, called the ambulance and sent the boy for medical treatment,” he said.
A teacher accompanied the boy to the hospital. The boy’s parents were also notified.
Lee said that the student has received medical treatment at the hospital and appears to be in a stable condition.
“At this point, I appeal for people not to speculate and to also respect the privacy of the boy and his family, who are going through a hard time,” he said. “Let the police do their investigations.”
The school said in a press statement on Thursday evening that the boy was being “warded for monitoring”.
In an earlier letter to parents and guardians seen by TODAY, SJI’s principal Adrian Danker said that a student had been injured and was in hospital with his parents.
The school could not provide more details as police investigations are continuing, he added.
“Some of our students witnessed the incident,” Dr Danker said.
“The SJI pastoral team and counsellors have attended to them and their well-being.
“We understand that you will be concerned about the injured Josephian. His parents have informed us that the doctors are attending to him.”
This is the second major incident that has happened at a school this week.
On Monday, a 13-year-old student was allegedly killed by a 16-year-old student at River Valley High School.
Dr Danker said that parents would be concerned about their child’s well-being in light of the latest incident at SJI.
He asked for their cooperation to keep an eye out for their children and inform their school’s form tutors should they observe signs of distress or a need for emotional or psychological help.
Dr Danker also asked parents not to distribute photos or videos of the injured student that their children may have taken and to avoid commenting on the incident.
“This is because the investigations are ongoing, and we hope to respect the privacy of the affected boy and his family,” he said.
“I wish to reassure you that we will continue to care for our Josephians in our SJI community during this trying time and the additional safe-management measures (to combat Covid-19). The school is here to support your child.”
SJI offers a four-year O-Level programme and a six-year Integrated Programme, which leads to an International Baccalaureate diploma.
There are only boys from Years 1 to 4, while the Integrated Programme track for students in Years 5 and 6 admits both boys and girls.
Additional reporting by Natasha Meah. — TODAY
