|
Tension still high at Moshi college
2005-09-19 07:34:36
By Adam Ihucha, Moshi
Tension remained high at the Vocational Educational Training Authority (Veta) Centre in Moshi yesterday after students went on the rampage on Thursday and destroyed property worth millions of shillings.
A contingent of police have been deployed at the campus to contain the situation should the need arise.
Kilimanjaro Regional Police Commander Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police (SACP) Dr Mohamed Chicco told The Guardian by telephone that police detectives are keeping vigil at the campus to restore order and put out potential trouble.
The RPC confirmed that two vehicles, one of them owned by the head of the college, had been destroyed by the students.
The students also damaged the windows of the administration block and a workshop, which were damaged extensively during the Thursday night riot.
’The riot occurred and property was damaged, but the teachers were not harmed. We are investigating the cause of the riot,’ he said.
Dr Chicco said despite the fracas, normal routine would go on as calm has been restored at the institution.
He said preliminary investigations had shown that there was more to the fracas than the reason being advanced that the students went on the rampage after a teacher confiscated their radio sets.
However, Dr Chicco did not disclose details of the preliminary findings.
’I can not tell you what we found, we have already told the administration to solve it as the problem appears to be rooted in the system,’ he said.
Last week, VETA students in Moshi went on the rampage and destroyed property worth millions of shillings.
According to the RPC, no one has been arrested in connection with the riot.
Earlier, reports indicated that there were misunderstandings between the students and management over a newly introduced levy to be used during the institution’s Open Day.
The management was accused of forcing students to donate money for the Open Day slated for November this year.
The students have been paying 10,000/- since June, but students said the money was out of reach of their parents.
Speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, students said that the refusal by parents to pay the money irked the VETA management, which decided to deduct the money from their tuition fees.
Students were on the view that before endorsing such a contribution, the management was supposed to get the blessings of the parents and guardians first.
The students also complained of teacher lethargy and poor diet at the college.
The students are also bitter that the management had ordered boarders to pay 3,000/- to cover the cost of four sewerage pipes that were stolen at one of the dormitories recently.
Contacted for comment, the Moshi-based Veta manager, Douglas Kipokola, admitted that the college had asked the students to meet the cost of hosting the Open Day.
According to Kipokola, the decision was reached after consultations between the members of staff and students’ leadership.
He dismissed allegations that most parents had opposed the idea. He said 430 out of 475 students had paid the money.
About teaching, Kipokola said that under the competency-based educational training teachers have been instructed to train according to the learning abilities of the students.
|
