Day students of Dabokpa Vocational Technical School riot

Tamale, June 3, GNA - About 20 day students of the Dabokpa Vocationa l Technical School in Tamale on Wednesday attacked the Vice-Principal in-charge of academic affairs and the Housemistress and vandalized properties worth thousands of Ghana cedis. A pick-up belonging to the school was damaged while the bungalow of the Housemistress was also affected. The students were rioting against the school authorities for collect ing money from them to buy a school cloth which they claimed had not been bou ght and thus incurring their anger.

The Vice-Principal, Madam Mahamadu Salamatu, who briefed the media o n the incidence, said she heard some noise from the students at about 1200 hours and when she came out, the students attacked her, put off the schoo l's main switch and ordered the female students to join them but they refused .. She alleged that the students also fired gunshots and attacked the Housemistress Amina Issifu adding that they are the only staff who stayed on the schools' premises.

Madam Salamatu said the boarding male students who did not take kind ly to the actions of the day students turn against their colleagues and mana ged to calm them down.

Chief Inspector Ebenezer Tetteh, Public Relations Officer of the Northern Regional Police Command, told the GNA that when the police got t o the scene, the students had fled saying "all efforts are being made to arrest them".

He said there were about 20 police personnel dispatched to keep law and order and monitor the situation to avoid any further disturbances. Meanwhile academic work was still in session on as at the time of filling this report. This is the second time in less than a week that two schools in the region had been engaged in acts of lawlessness. It would be recalled that the Ghana Secondary School (Ghanasco) on Sunday rioted against the authorities for disallowing them to use mobile phones in school. Academic work was halted and a committee formed to investigate the incident.