The Baoshan District Education Bureau of Shanghai has conferred a posthumous honor on a 27-year-old middle school teacher who died of a sudden heart attack while tutoring students at school on June 3 in recognition of his devotion to teaching.

The Baoshan District government will also set up a special fund for Xu Hongjie's 2-month-old son to pay for the boy's future education, officials said yesterday.

To date, city residents have also donated more than 30,000 yuan (US$3,614) to Xu's family.

Xu, a math teacher at Baoshan's Tonghe Middle School, turned pale and collapsed during a question and answer session with students on June 3 - four days before the national college entrance exam began.

Colleagues and students immediately rushed Xu to a nearby hospital, where doctors treated him for one hour before he died.

Doctors said Xu's death was caused by a combination of four to five heart diseases.

Co-workers said Xu had been feeling sick since March. He had taken a physical check and was scheduled to pick up the results on the morning he died. But due to his busy schedule leading up to the exam, the teacher, who was in charge of the graduating grade-12 class, delayed the appointment, his colleagues said.

"Xu's sudden death alerted us to pay more attention to teachers' health," said Wang Xin of the Shanghai Education Commission.

Normally, teachers in Baoshan District are provided free health checks every two or three years. But the checks tend to focus on teachers over the age of 40, according to Fu Weiyang, a teacher at Baoshan's Xingzhi Middle School.

The local medical community is also paying more attention to teachers following Xu's death. Shanghai Consonancy Hospital yesterday donated 2 million yuan worth of medical cards for 1,000 grade-12 teachers. The cards can be used to get a free physical exam. About 100 cards were distributed to teachers at Tonghe Middle School.

"Many teachers suffer health problems due to stress and neglect on health protection," said Tang Qiwei, an official at Consonancy Hospital. "They are too busy to undergo regular medical checks and consultation, and most of them have an unhealthy lifestyle. They spend too much time at their desks and don't get enough physical exercise."

(Shanghai Daily June 14, 2005)