No peace at Moeding College

Botswana: No Peace At Moeding College
AllAfrica.com - Washington,USA
The visibly emotional headmaster of Moeding College, Marcos Maedza, yesterday told parents amid reports of ill-treatment of students by their peers, that the school had no peace in 2008. Devastated parents, many of whom got information that their children had been forced to sleep in nearby bushes that provided overnight refuge from marauding Form Five colleagues who tortured male and female 'new comers' alike, listened to the unfolding travesty."We have a problem here and we can't let this go on," he added. He related how a student was made to undress, his pubic hair shaved and the hair burnt while the other boys were forced to inhale the fumes ... The headmaster broke down and had to be assisted by Reverend Dummie Mmualefe, a board member of the school. He related how on his second day at the school, on January 29 after power cuts, he heard a lot of noise and met with a female student running away from three boys. He was told that the Form Four students had run away into the bushes and the other students wanted to smoke them out ... The chair of the Board of Governors of Moeding College, Dr Bolelang Pheko said the school was Christian-based where students learn to be humble. She read out some of the threats the students had made against Maedza. Some threatened: 'You will die. F*** off, sir. Se re itse go ithuta - do not deny us learming'. She said those who cannot abide by the college's rules should leave ... "Ke ne ka roroma, ke utlwa mogokgo a bua - I was shaking when I heard the headmaster talking," said one parent. Another parent from Mmathethe called for thrashing of students ...