By Charles Gbayor, maorethason1997@gmail.com
HARPER, Liberia-The administration of the Harper Demonstration Elementary and Junior High School in this city in the southeastern Maryland County has expelled five students and suspended two others for taking harmful materials on campus, including scissors, stones and sticks.
This area is situated some 250 miles from Monrovia.
Those students expelled are Sergio Allison, Winston Glomah, Fredrick Prowd, and Charles Clarke, all from the9th grade and one from the 7th grade, respectively.
The Vice-Principal of the school, Emmanuel Dennis said that the students involved recently went on campus with these weapons in their bags.
Some of the materials confiscated
He said they were not noticed with these harmful materials until violence broke out amongst the student population on campus, just as a Pastor from the Deeper Life Church was preaching to the students.
Vice Principal Dennis continued that while the Pastor was preaching, the students affected disrespectfully interrupted the prelate by raining insults and causing confusion which led other students to intervene.
But he said the intervention was ignored, resulting in heated argument that saw the five suspended students taking out scissors, rocks, and sticks, amongst others from their bags to attack their colleagues, who opposed the uncouth behavior against the Deeper Life Church Pastor.
“Let me say, it’s very much regrettable for students to display such attitude when their parents have paid huge amount of money as their school feels for learning purposes,” he added.
The Vice Principal revealed that this was not the first time for the students involved to behave in such manner.
“It’s very disappointing for students, who we are preparing for the future educationally, to display such disorderly manner but we can assure you as an administrator that the institution will not compromise with any parents to allow these students back on campus; therefore, we are calling on all schools in Maryland County, Liberia at large not to accept these brutal students in any institution,”,he cautioned.
The Elementary and Junior High school’s administration also highlighted other challenges confronting the school.
It named lack of security and fence around the school campus, which led criminals to have broken into the premises and stolen several materials belonging to the institution.
The administration also noted that the institution is owned by government, so it called on the Ministry of Education, national and international humanitarian organizations to help fence the school campus, in order to control movement of students while school is in session.