Students' unrest leads to closure of Navrongo SHS

Navrongo (UE), June 1, GNA - The Upper Regional Minister, Mr. Mark Woyongo has ordered the closure of Navrongo Senior High School, following students' rampage, which led to the destruction of school property.

The Minister asked the students to leave the campus by 1600 hours on Tuesday, May 25 and to return after two weeks. He also directed the Regional Directorate of Education to constitute a seven- member committee to find

out the cause of the rampage and the extent of damage caused to property. On May 24 and May 25 the students went on a rampage on campus and vandalised louver blades, the

Administration Block, staff accommodation, streetlights and electronic gadgets in reaction to a ban on

majority of them not to enter the dinning hall due to lateness. The students also broke into the senior headmistress office and made

away with money and 40 mobile

phones that were seized by the school authorities and also destroyed accounting books. They also

threatened to attack the tutors. The Police were dispatched to the school campus to prevent further destruction of property. Assistant Head Master of the School, Mr Sixtus Adikwo told the Regio nal Minister that at 2200 hours on

Monday, he heard the students chanting and throwing stones from the headmaster's residence towards the

Administration Block. He said he attempted to talk to them to calm down their nerves to no

avail and in the process was hit by

a stone. Mr Adikwo said the students who were armed with offensive weapons al so threatened to attack their colleagues who did not taken part in the rampage.

Sensing danger Mr Adikwo informed the District Chief Executive Mr. Emmanuel Andema who instructed the Police to intervene.

The District Co-ordinating Director, Mr Edward Abazing said there wa s a remote cause to the unrest. He said the Students Representative Council claimed that the School Administration did not listen to their grievances including the poor quality of food served them. The students also complained about the dilapidated nature of the sch ool infrastructure, which they said was affecting their academic work as well as the seizure of their mobile phones. The Regional Minister who addressed the students said they would bor ne the cost of the items they had

vandalised, warning that gone were the days when people destroyed public property and went free. Mr Woyongo said the culprits would be punished since their grievance s should have been channelled

through the appropriate channels and not allowed to degenerate into violence. He said as future leaders they should have been disciplined and responsible. The Regional Minister said Government was doing everything possible to get the school better

infrastructure and to support the facility to celebrate its Golden Jubile e this year.