Tambul teacher claims 30 students attacked him

By ELIAS LARI
AN English teacher at Tambul High School in Western Highlands was attacked by more than 30 students.
The students, mostly Grade 9, armed with sticks, spades, bush knives and stones attacked David Opai last Tuesday at around 6pm as he walked into the school.
Opai, a Grade 9 English teacher said yesterday in Mt Hagen he was surprised when students confronted him and started attacking him.
He said he thought he would lose his life and he  had not expected an attack.
Opai said all his attackers were from the Upper Kagul, a few kilometres from the Lower Kagul area in the Tambul-Nebilyer electorate.
He said the students were unhappy because of many teachers being allegedly absent from school and not teaching them.
He said the students had planned to attack any teacher they came across and when they saw him, they attacked him.
Opai, who is from the province, called on the education division to discipline the students and investigate the allegation they had raised about teachers being absent from classes.
He said they did not teach students to become violent.
He said such attack sent a bad signal to other teachers, who would be reluctant to take up their posting at the school because they might risk their lives.
“I sacrifice my life to educate them so that they can have a bright future.
“They did not appreciate the service I gave and in return attacked me for no good reason.”
He said this was not a good sign for the school, adding that if they had any problem with the teachers, they should take it up with the school management.
He called on the school’s administration to look into the problem and take disciplinary action against the students.
Some students who accompanied Opai condemned the actions of their colleagues.
They said Opai was one of the hard working teachers and did not know why the students had attacked him.