A teacher in Anhui Province has been held largely responsible for a fight between two students in his class that resulted in one death and ordered to pay compensation of 100,000 yuan (US$14,286) to the victim's family, the Wuhan Morning Post reported.

Yang Jinggui, in his 50s, allegedly only watched as a fight broke out in his geography class on the morning of June 12. He did not help when Yang Tao, one of his students, collapsed and was rushed to hospital by classmates. Yang Jinggui simply continued the lesson until class was dismissed, the report said.

The 14-year-old boy died from an unnamed internal disease and had no external injuries from the fight, the report said, citing police. The fight with his classmate Chen Xiaofei, a pseudonym, triggered the hidden illness, according to the Changfeng County Public Security Bureau of Anhui Province, the report said.

Yang Tao's family received 205,000 yuan, including 100,000 from Yang Jinggui, 30,000 yuan from Chen's family and 75,000 from Wudian Middle School. Yang Jinggui was also fired.

"The teacher did not take the child to hospital in time but chose to continue the lesson. He also failed to report the emergency to the school, which was a major neglect of his duties,'' Wan Qihu, headmaster of the school, told the newspaper.

According to the newspaper, Yang and Chen sat beside each other in the third row and the fight started when Chen tried to move his desk, but was prevented by Yang Tao. He allegedly pushed against Chen's desk with his foot, which led to the fight.

Four to five classmates tried to stop the fight, but the teacher did not say a word. Soon after the boys were separated, Yang Tao started shaking and spit foam from his mouth. Chen and two others boys carried Yang to a nearby hospital, the report said.

Some students told the newspaper that Yang Jinggui continued the geography lesson until the bell rang even when he saw Yang was being carried out of the classroom.

"When the fight was going, he said: 'You can fight at the playground after class if you are energetic enough,' and then he kept teaching,'' a student told the newspaper.

Yang Tao arrived at the hospital at 11:10 am, but doctors found his heart had stopped beating and he was no longer breathing. When emergency treatment did not work, he was transferred to Hefei No. 1 People's Hospital in the capital city of Anhui, where he was later pronounced dead.

Yang Bingxiang, Yang Tao's father, told the newspaper that his wife became ill when she heard of her son's death.

"If only the teacher had tried to mediate or stop the fight. He could have thrown chalk ends towards them as a warning and the result would not have been so serious,'' he told the newspaper.

(Shanghai Daily July 14, 2008)