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| National |
| Students vandalise Chipoka Sec School |
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by
Francis Tayanjah-Phiri, 16 March 2006
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07:04:03
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Chipoka Secondary School students went amok on Tuesday, destroying school property worth hundreds of Kwacha in protest against meal coupons introduced by the administration.
Both the school administration and Police confirmed of the incident, saying over 22 students were involved in the fracas.
“It all started on Monday when the students demonstrated against the introduction of meal coupons and threatened to deal with teachers. We investigated the issue and found the ring leaders who we recommended must be suspended immediately,” boarding master, Mathews Chitekwe Phiri said in an interview.
He said the school introduced the coupons after experiencing problems in soliciting food after thieves stole over K98,000 in January.
“The robbery paralysed us financially and since we could not adequately feed the students, we resolved to close one week early for the Martyrs’ Day holiday. We also asked the students to bring a K450 (General Purpose Fund) payment, when coming back, which we decided to use as a supplementary budget for food,” said Chitekwe Phiri.
He said some of the students did not pay after misusing the money they got from parents. This made the school authorities to introduce meal coupons, a thing that angered the students, he added.
Phiri said on Tuesday the suspended ring leaders tore their suspension letters in front of the authorities, adding that late in the night the students started breaking school property, defying officers from Chipoka Police Station who were guarding the premises.
“They destroyed the library, hall/cafeteria, several teachers’ houses, headmaster’s house and the entire administration block before vandalising and stealing from the tuck shop. Of course, we have not yet come up with the total value of the property vandalised,” he said.
According to Chitekwe and Salima police public relations officer Gift Chitowe, the students involved in the fracas were at large.
“We went to assess the situation and have indeed seen that the students broke a lot of things. Meanwhile, we have instituted a big hunt for those involved,” said Chitowe.
As we went to press, the school’s administration was locked up in a meeting with officials from the Ministry of Education on the issue.
According to some teachers interviewed, the authorities proposed that the school close immediately.
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