Malawi: Police in Mangochi District have arrested some students from Assalam Boys Secondary School for arson and vandalism. The students have confessed to setting school buildings on fire. The children have also been found guilty of vandalising property in protest confiscation of cellphone at the school.
The incident was reported to the police station on March 21. The students are not allowed to carry cellphones in the school premises as prescribed by the school rulebook.
The authorities have shared that the school management had confiscated the phones in accordance with the school rules. However, the students took the matter to an extreme by committing Arson
Mangochi Police Station, Public Relations Officer, Amina Tepani Daudi confirmed the arrest while speaking to the media. The officials said that the incident at the school happened in the early hours on March 21.
The school which was set ablaze by the students is situated at Changamire 1 Village, Traditional Chimwala in the district. The students were aware of the rules that prohibited them from having and using the phones during school.
John Chiwaula, who is the head teacher of the school shared the information available to him regarding the incident. According to him, the teachers had conducted a hostel search earlier this week and confiscating 10 cell phones.
The phones were used by the students against school rules. The teachers wanted to reach and reinforce the rules that the students must follow.
They were informed that the rules should be followed diligently. As such, the management of the school noted that they wanted to teach the students to follow the rules.
Initially, the students returned to their hostels without protest. However, later that night, a group of Form 3 and 2 students started defacing and vandalizing classrooms, hostels, the library, dining hall, toilets. The students also broke windows with stones to show their protest.
The school head also claimed that the head teachers office and two staffrooms were also set on fire. The arson attempt destroyed the computers, printers, students certificates, and teaching materials.
According to Daud, the students did this out of anger as the school teachers had confiscated their mobile phones.
All the suspects are currently in Mangochi District police custody pending further directives and court proceedings.