48 expelled for burning Standard College dorm

Ntungamo.

Standard College Ntungamo has expelled 48 students, 20 of them Senior Four and Senior Six candidates, over their alleged involvement in the burning of a hostel last Thursday.
A dormitory block caught fire shortly after midnight and property of 90 girls, who lived in one of the two main compartments of the building, were burnt to ashes.
The fire was extinguished before it could burn the other section also hosting another 90 girls and the bursar’s office.
This is the first violent strike at the school in its 15 years of existence.
Fifteen of those expelled were in Senior Four and they missed sitting for their Uganda Certificate of Education exams that began Monday.
The officer-in-charge of criminal investigations at Ntungamo Police Station, Mr Godes Twinamatsiko, said the students had planned to burn all the dormitories.
They reportedly bought 20 litres of petrol and spread it in all dormitories.
“After getting the fuel into the school, it was distributed into small bottles and given to students to take to all dormitories. They were supposed to set the fire at once but may be some feared lighting the matches.”
The 48 suspected ring leaders were detained at Ntungamo Police Station and charged with arson.
They have since been asked to pay between Shs400,000 and Shs1.5m each, depending on the level of suspicion for misconduct in exchange of being released on police bond. Whoever pays the money is released on bond.
By Tuesday, some of the students were still in police cells because they had not cleared the money.
The school director, Mr Steven Tashobya, also a former MP for Kajara constituency, said the charges are justified.
“If you really went to the school and saw the damage, the charges are justified,” said Mr Tashobya.
Five students suffered burns and were admitted to Doctors Family Clinic in Ntungamo. Four were, however; discharged later, while one was referred to Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, where she was still admitted by press time.
However, Mr Twinamatsiko blamed the school for having no proper plan to deal with fire outbreaks.
According to police report, the dormitory was congested and had only one entry and exit. The students were using triple decker beds yet they were banned by the ministry of Education. The school also had no fire extinguishers in place.
The school head teacher, Mr Boaz Ruyimbazi, said the students’ act caught them unawares.
“We did not expect such a situation in the school, everything had been normal and we don’t know why the students came up with such a wild idea. We had not received any information of dissatisfaction by the students,” Mr Ruyimbazi said.
Mr Anold Amanya, a Senior Six student, however, said there were some elements of dissatisfaction among students a week before. Students of S6 and those of S3 clashed over scheduling of meals time (S3 boys wanted to take meals in time allocated to S6) and other issues, which he says were resolved by the prefects.
Police said other issues included severe punishment of students by teachers and failure by the school to procure a weekend attire despite the students paying Shs80,000 for it at the beginning of the year.
A student, who spoke to Daily Monitor on condition of anonymity, said the school administration started a club called “crime preventers”. He said the members of this club harass, beat and bully students with views against the administration and those thought to be stubborn.
He said the students have protested such acts but have never been addressed.
Other sources in the school pointed to conflicts between some teachers and students over girls as another source of dispute that could have fueled the strike.
Ms Midress Mugwanya, 67, a mother of one of the expelled students, told Daily Monitor she was not notified that her child had been arrested until Tuesday morning.
The Ntungamo District education officer, Mr Odo Arigye, said the district education department is not directly responsible for secondary schools and it is a big challenge in enforcing education standards.