Anti-riot police and students of Mandela secondary school were engaged in running battles last night following a strike by the students of the school located in Hoima West City Division.
The school administration called Police after the students went on rampage around 2 am and shattered the glass panes in their dormitories and classrooms and demolished the perimeter wall at the school.
This followed a move by administrators to confiscate their phones which they were using to listen to radio.
The claimed to also be protesting what they term as poor-quality meals and maladministration.
Students claim that their pleas to the top school authorities have not yielded any results, which left them with no option but to strike. “We cannot continue to be fed on rotten beans yet our parents are paying a lot of school fees but the school management does not want to listen to our issues”, said one of the students.
According to ASP Hakiza Julius Allan the R/PRO Albertine, the students had set a school store ablaze and the fire brigade managed to put it off with no serious damages and no injuries.
He urged students to concentrate on their studies and deter themselves from all sorts of indiscipline that may lead to the discontinuation from their studies.
Roland Ndiwalana the school head teacher says that they had to call in the anti-riot police because the situation was out of hand.
He added that the school management is profiling the students and will soon identify the ringleaders of the strike for appropriate action, noting that they will not close the school because of the strike, adding that normal activities will go on as planned.
