Students riots in Mogoditshane

gazettebw.com

TUESDAY, 24 MAY 2011

Nko Ya Phiri primary school was closed on Monday after a group of Mogoditshane Junior Secondary school students forced teachers and students out of the school.

According to an eye witness, the students first chased away a sweet vendor who sells near the school, then told the night watchman not to interfere while they evicted the pupils from the school.

The Gazette made efforts to interview the school authorities, but the telephone rang unanswered. Unconfirmed reports suggest that most primary schools in Kgatleng did not reopen as traditional leaders had advised parents not to send their children to school.

Contacted for comment, the Minister of Education & Skills Development, Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi, said she could answer any questions on situations that happened while she was not there. She said she had not received any reports of some schools remaining closed.

Asked why primary schools were reopened while teachers were still on strike, Moitoi said some teachers who are members of the Botswana Primary Teachers Union (BOPRITU) are not part of the strike.

Rumours at the weekend however suggest that the government reopened the primary schools as cover because foreign missions had met the Minister and threatened to transfer their children to South African schools if schools did not reopen. Read more…

~ par Alain Bertho sur 24 Mai 2011.

Publié dans émeutes, riots