Goroka schools expected to resume classes

THE Asaroka Lutheran and Kabiufa Adventist Secondary schools outside Goroka, Eastern Highlands are expected to resume normal classes today.
The two schools were closed last week following election-related violence and vandalism.
Almost all schools in the province did not resume classes after their two-week term break in June because of polling and counting in the general election.
When declarations for the eight open electorates were made in the past two weeks, supporters of many losing candidates unleashed their anger on people they believed were responsible for their candidates’ election losses. The outbreak of violence scared teachers and students and their mid-year term break lasted more than two months when it should have been two weeks.
Supporters invaded the Kabiufa Secondary School and attacked students and their nearby Akameku tribesmen, resulting in two deaths.
Police have since been camping at the school to avoid any more disruptions.
Asaroka Secondary School was subjected to vandalism by local villages who capitalised on the outcome of the elections during which a man died in a skirmish.
School deputy board chairman Ikime Mek Gorosahu and provincial police commander John Kale each issued separate notices to all the people living around the school to allow normal classes to resume today.
Kale warned that anyone who disrupted the school would face the law.
He said the Grade 10 Science Practical Examination scheduled for last week had been affected and the National Grade 12 compulsory Written Expression examination would start today.