According to SCMP, a young teacher in central China died at work due to pressure from managing 400 students and overtime. The Li surnamed man, at the age of U30, has worked for 5 years at aursing and education company in Vu Han.
The company was founded in 2012, operating an online platform that provides English and math courses for primary and secondary school students. According to online sources, the platform has more than 160 million users.
After graduating from college, Li joined the online tutoring profession. Chinese media reported that he recently had to work many extra days to complete his mission before the long holiday.
On April 22, Li went to the office and worked until late at night. After that, his fiancee could not contact him so she called the police.
The next morning, a security guard discovered Li unconscious in the office. He was later confirmed to have died of a sudden heart attack.
Li's relatives said he grew up in a difficult family. He is the second child, has an older sister and is not married. His father passed away many years ago, and his mother later remarried.
His fiancee said they had planned to get married on May 2.
The local labor agency said Li's family and the company where he worked were preparing documents to certify that his death was work-related.
On April 25, the company issued a statement expressing its grief at Li's death and pledging to cooperate with his family. The statement stressed that Li's team was not scheduled to work overtime because the working day fell on the company's holiday.
The company also praised Li's achievements and asked the public to respect his family's privacy. However, many netizens questioned the company's statement and whether Li really volunteered to work overtime.
Chinese media have previously reported widespread overtime at the company.
Former employees said that a teacher/mentor has to manage 400 students, answer countless questions from parents and often work more than 6 hours a day. Employees must report to the supervisor when using the restroom or during lunch break.
A former employee named Wang said she felt worried about having to work overtime for a long time and quit at the end of last year. Another person, Zhang, resigned a day after hearing the news of Li's death.
The incident attracted a lot of attention on Chinese social networks, with related topics exceeding 70 million views.
