The parents of a British student killed on a school trip to the Maldives are still seeking justice for their daughter nearly two years on from her death. Jenna Chan died on 8 November 2024 after being struck by the propeller of a boat during an excursion, organised by the Singapore-based St Joseph’s Institution International Ltd and a UK-registered charity.
Jenna Chan, 15, was knocked unconscious and sustained critical injuries before she was pulled up to the boat with help from her traumatised classmates. She regained consciousness briefly, whispering “help me”, before being pronounced dead less than an hour later. Her parents, Dr Jennifer Liauw and Alan Chan, told The Independent that they have spent more than 20 months pleading with the school to work with them to establish exactly what happened to their daughter and ensure it can never happen again.
Speaking from Singapore, Jenna’s parents remembered their daughter as “pure sunshine - warm, smiley, and always thinking of other people.” They said the most important objective for them was to “hold the school accountable by ensuring transparency” in risk management, emergency planning and post-incident decision making. They hope the process will lead to meaningful improvements in how overseas school expeditions are planned, supervised, and managed, with clear accountability when those standards are not met.
In the lawsuit filed on Monday, Jenna’s parents allege that the school has “refused to be held accountable” for their daughter’s death and “instead remained belligerent”. St Joseph’s, a fee-paying international school for more than 2,000 students aged 4-18 in Singapore, denies any wrongdoing. The family believe that the school, which charges fees of up to £26,900 per year, failed to do due diligence around the Maldives Expedition in 2024, which was compulsory for Grade 9 students and a requirement to progress to the next academic year.
Jenna died after entering the water during a whale shark excursion aboard the MV Sapphire Black in the South Ari Marine Protected Area in the Maldives, while on an expedition run by the UK-registered Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme (MWSRP) charity. A teacher from the school then dove under the boat to free Jenna, who was then brought back on board unconscious with her leg sliced open and an open wound on her back.
Her parents say the school failed to take reasonable steps to ensure that MWSRP was suitable and qualified to run excursions for school children, and failed to properly vet the Maldives, which they say has seen a pattern of fatal marine incidents on diving and boat tours. As many as 112 tourists died in marine-related incidents in the Maldives between January 2020 and October 2023, according to police figures circulated last summer.
A spokesperson for the school said: “The loss of Jenna was a tragedy, and our hearts remain with her family. As a school, we continue to offer them our unwavering support and hold them in our thoughts and prayers every day. We can confirm that Jenna’s parents had on Tuesday filed a claim against the school in the Singapore High Court. The school denies the allegations stated in the claim, which have misattributed fault to the school.”
The school added that it has reached out to Jenna’s parents on numerous occasions and remains open to meeting with them when they are ready. However, the family believes that the school has failed to live up to their expectations of accountability and transparency. The case is now before the Singapore Courts, and the school will refrain from commenting further on the matter publicly at this juncture.
.png?trim=0,0,0,0&width=1200&height=800&crop=1200:800)
