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A ten-year-old boy died after being told to jump from a building by his teacher after talking in class.

The 10-year-old named locally as Jun Jun plummeted 300ft to his death after refusing to write a 1,000 word “character apology”.

His father is demanding a full investigation after the boy’s notebook was found with the words: “Teacher I can’t do it... I flinched several times when I tried to jump from the building.”

The primary school pupil smashed on top of a parked car at around 6pm on Wednesday in Jinjiang district, south west China, near where the family live.

His father Li Yingju insisted there was “nothing unusual” about Jun Jun’s behaviour before his death.

“All we want now is the truth,” he said.

“Just couple of days ago he won first prize in an English test and was really happy about it. My son had a sunny personality, as all of his classmates and our neighbours know.

“He was so outgoing and was good at handling stress. I just can’t imagine how severe the pressure or punishment must have been to make him do this.”

Security guards patrolled Huarun School in the city of Chengdu today after the family put up a banner saying “The teacher forced our kid to jump off the building”.

Neighbours told Chinese media his teacher, named as “Miss Chen”, ordered him to jump from the 30th floor after he failed to complete the written apology.

His step mother Ms Wen said that Jun Jun had been given two options as punishment for his lack of “honour” - either a 1000-word apology or made to stand for an hour.

Ms Wen said she had been told by teachers Jun Jun then broke down in tears saying he did not know how to write the apology.

After school Jun Jun went home to the tower block where they live on the fifth floor but took the elevator to the 30th floor roof instead where he jumped to his death.

One witness told local TV crews the sound of Jun Jun hitting the parked car sounded like an explosion.

The family has now launched a campaign against the pressure placed on young pupils to obey instructions.

Strict discipline is an essential part of the Chinese education system within a culture which values deference to authority.

Friends of the family said Jun Jun was ordered to write the apology after several children laughed during a poetry recital.

The school uploaded a message on its official account on Chinese social network Sino Weibo claiming Jun Jun died “by accident”

But the school admitted some of his classmates were ordered to write reviews of their behaviour after they disturbed a speaking competition.

“The police investigation is still under way,’ an official in Jinjiang district said but refused to comment further.

Jun Jun’s parents divorced when he was three and he lived with his father, stepmother, grandmother and one-year-old sister.

Suicide is now the leading cause of death in China for those aged 15-34.

The cause of death is being investigated.