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Ombaci Old Boys blame students for school closure
Police officers assess the damage caused by students of St Joseph’s College Ombaci last week. PHOTO BY CLEMENT ALUMA
What you need to know:
Mr Andema said it was an insult for students to pay back through hooliganism and destroying property yet parents were paying heavily to educate them.
Arua- The leadership of Old Boys Association of St Joseph’s College Ombaci has criticised the unruly behaviour of students that led to indefinite closure of the school, which is hindering the institution from reviving its glory.
The school was closed after four consecutive strikes in one month. It was the epitome of academic excellence and produced the best students in the country in the 1980s.
“We are extremely enraged and disappointed by the level of hooliganism, childishness and barbarism that students have continued to demonstrate at Ombaci which not long time ago was an academic excellence in Uganda,” the founder chairperson of the association, Mr Sam Andema, told journalists at the weekend.
Mr Andema said it was an insult for students to pay back through hooliganism and destroying property yet parents were paying heavily to educate them.
The students smashed office windows, laboratories and dumped human waste in the head teacher’s office during the strikes.
“We contributed immensely to the infrastructure in the school but it is sad that students do not value efforts people are putting to revive the school,” the chairperson of the association, Mr Godfrey Mundua, said.
“Students should concentrate on studies and if they have grievances, they should follow the channels of settlement of issues,” he added.
Mr Mundua said students should be scrutinised before they are re-admitted.
Administration on spot
Police investigations indicate that there is infighting among some teachers and the head teacher, Mr Andrew Tumwesigye. Mr Tumwesigye said he tightened loopholes where money was being lost. “I found that some members in procurement were collaborating with food suppliers to exaggerate supplies. So, this infuriated some teachers,” he said.
