Police want penalties for students

By GLORIA BAUAI
LAE Metropolitan Chief Superintendent Chris Kunyanban has called for tougher penalties by school management on students involved in school group fights.
He raised this concern following the recent school fight at Bumayong Secondary School a week prior to Independence Day which involved homemade guns.
Chief Supt Kunyanban said a police vehicle was stoned when police units intervened to stop the fight.
He said school fights were an on-going concern for years because the management was not taking a hard stand on disciplining these students.
Chief Supt Kunyanban said over the years, the few students identified to have been involved in the fight were suspended for a few weeks and allowed back to school.
He said students withholding information also posed a challenge in identifying those who were involved in fighting.
Chief Supt Kunyanban suggested as a step forward, the school install close-circuit television (CCTV) within the school perimeter.
“It will cost some money but it will help us identify those students involved in fighting,” he said.
“When identified, the management through the governing council, should take serious measures to terminate these students.
“It’s better to remove a handful rather than having the few affect the learning of the majority.”
Meanwhile, Morobe programme adviser Keith Tangui said a newly appointed school coordinator would be on site Bumayong Secondary for week-one of term four to monitor the school.
He said the school coordinator would assess and identify the cause of these fights so appropriate actions could be taken to address the issue.
Tangui said from experience with Bugandi Secondary School, fights were caused by either outside influence or internally upon teachers’ absence.
“We will get to the bottom of this.”