Mandela Secondary School based in Hoima City has expelled a total of 87 students for allegedly masterminding and participating in a violent strike last month that left school properties destroyed.
The decision to expel the students was communicated to their parents on Sunday afternoon during a Parent Teacher Association (PTA) meeting at the school.
Dr Lawrence Bategeka, the school director said the majority of expelled students are in Senior Four, Five and Six. He said that 55 of the students are candidates who had already registered to sit their exams this year at the school.
‘‘We are expelling 87 but 55 are candidates. The ones who are candidates will come back after paying Shs1.5 million to sit for their examinations. The money will cover damages and they won’t be allowed to sleep at the school again,” he said.
Ms Francis Omol Opoka, a parent at the school, welcomed the decision by the school administration to expel the ringleaders of the strike saying if they were allowed to come back, they could cause more havoc to the school.
“If a child is having bad behaviours, why should you contain him to spoil others? Those 87 can go home so that the rest can learn from their example,” he said.
Mr Hillary Bisoborwa, another parent, said the decision taken by the school administration will act as a lesson and warning to other students and schools in the region and the country at large.
He challenged parents to instil discipline in their children.
Security and the school management on July 14, 2022, resolved to close the school after students staged a violent strike protesting poor feeding and administration.
Some of the students who spoke to the Monitor on condition of anonymity said they were being fed on poor-quality beans and posho.
The students were also angered by a move by the school administration to confiscate their mobile phones.
The angry students went on a rampage and demolished a perimeter wall of the school and also shattered the glass panes in their dormitories and classrooms.
The PTA meeting resolved that the rest of the students report to school on August 1 for normal learning to compensate for the time lost when the school was closed.