Hope Mafaranga and Daniel Edyegu
18 November 2008
Kampala — STUDENTS of St. Leo's College Kyegobe in Kabarole district on Sunday went on strike, protesting poor hygiene in the school and demanding the removal of their head teacher, Joseph Mary, Etubire.
"The school has only two toilets, has poor shower rooms and bushes all over the place," one of the students said.
The students damaged Etubire's house and car and smashed the windows of his office before anti-riot Police were called in to calm the situation.
The students also said Etubire was "chasing away skilled teachers". Etubire, however, denied the allegations.
The district education officer, Victoria Rusoke, appealed to the school administration to address the students' grievances in order to bring sanity to the school.
The Bishop of Fort Portal Diocese, Robert Muhirwa, said investigations into causes of the strike were going on.
An emergency meeting attended by the college's governing board, the parents association, school administrators and security personnel was held at the school on Monday in which it was resolved that student grievances be addressed.
"We shall beef up the board with other members and have the issues resolved," Paul Kasande, the board chairman, said.
Meanwhile Uganda Technical College (UTC) Elgon in Mbale district has been closed for one month following a demonstration by the students. The students were protesting what they called poor administration at the institute.
"The students refused to attend lectures demanding that the Principal, John Twesigye, be sacked. We explained to them that it was a technical decision that could not be made immediately, but they refused to budge so we decided to send them home for a month pending investigations," Mbale resident district commissioner, Henry Nalyanya, told The New Vision.
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