By Dickens Twinomujuni
Police Wednesday evening backed up the administration of Muhabura Shine Secondary School to subdue an imminent students’ strike at the school.
This was after learners mounted pressure on the school administration over suspension of their fellows.
The Kisoro Police Community Liaison Officer (CLO), IP Boaz Arinaitwe confirmed deployment at the school.
The School Headteacher, Nabasa Martin, confirmed that following the suspension of some indisciplined students, their colleagues wanted to turn chaotic.
Mr Nabasa told us that a group of 8 boys were suspended after they were found outside during class time, while other girls who were found outside were punished differently.
This angered the learners, questioning why students who were implicated in the same acts of indiscipline were punished differently.
“It was some sort of discomfort and discontent from some learners, but not a strike. Overtime we have had some boys and girls who want to call themselves the ‘untouchables’. So, this time we had some boys who don’t want to go to classes and we suspended them,” he said.
“We had padlocks but they mastered them. We put there gates but they broke them. So whenever we would close, they would jump through the windows, break the fences and get access then they play matatu (cards) and everything. We caught some and we suspended them for one week,” explained the Head teacher.
Mr Nabasa says the source of discontent was because girls who were caught outside classes were given a lighter punishment, instead of being suspended like their male counterparts.
“There were also some girls who were caught around the dormitory area but for them they had put desks outside and they were busy seriously reading and discussing. They have not broken anything, so they were given a lighter punishment of cleaning the school and carrying food. However, the boys believe that since the girls were also outside the classes, they also had to be suspended.” Said Nabasa, on Wednesday evening.
The Head teacher however notes that there was no cause for alarm at the school, adding that the situation was handled with the help of police.
According to Nabasa, stakeholders ought to do their role in nurturing students and all children in general, not abandoning it to teachers only.
He adds that the school will not tolerate indiscipline at all levels, commending teachers for managing such cases.
“Parents send us even the worst children they have failed to manage, but we do our best. So, it’s a process. This generation deserves my effort, deserves your effort and we can all do better.”
Following the arrival of Police, the learners were warned against indiscipline and classes resumed with night preps. The situation normalised Thursday morning with police leaving the premises.
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