There has been a violent demonstration in your school in which damage was done to school property. Write a report for the principal stating the causes of the demonstration, and what you think should be done to prevent a recurrence of such an incident.
Explanation
Ojokoro Grammar School
P. 0. Box 2320
Ojokoro.
18th May. 1989.
The Principal
Ojokoro Grammar School
Ojokoro.
Dear Sir.
REPORT ON THE RECENT VIOLENT DEMONSTRATION IN THE SCHOOL.
The recent violent demonstration by students which took place on Wednesday last week is quite unfortunate espe-cially with the large scale destruction which accompanied the protest. It is rather unfortunate that what was planned to be a peaceful demonstration ended up being a violent one resulting in wanton destruction of the school property.
The demonstration has both remote and immediate causes. The remote causes are teachers' nonchalant attitude to work and their high-handedness on students. For quite a long time before the demonstration students had been complaining about the poor attitude of teachers to work. Teachers are failing in their duties; they do not come to classes regularly. In most cases when students go to the staff room to call them, they will give one excuse or the other. Even when some of them promise to come they will not. Few of the teachers who come to teach often do not prepare for their lessons. They do not write lesson notes The negligence of the teachers in carrying out their duties coupled with the high-handedness of some of them constitute the basis for the complaints by students. They have come to complain to me several times as the senior prefect.
Furthermore. the simmering complaints about the teachers culminated in the outbreak of the violent demonstration. The demonstration was triggered off by the injury which Friday Osadolor, a JSS three student sustained in his right eye when Mr. Adebowale, the Biology teacher was flogging him.
The demonstration was planned to be a mere peaceful protest by carrying placards in a march to your office. Unfortunately, the march was overtaken by aggrieved students who introduced violence into the hitherto simple protest march. During the incident, the staff room. school bus and the school hall were burnt down by some students while some teachers were manhandled.
It is obvious that the violent demonstration could have been averted if appropriate steps had been taken to listen to the students' complaints. Sir. I would want you to always have your ears to the ground so that you would know what is going on in the school. You should provide a suggestion box in the school where students can put their complaints and suggestions.
Above all, you should try as much as possible to talk to the teachers to discharge their duties effectively as at when due. You should encourage the teachers to treat the students as their children when they do something wrong. They should avoid inflicting injuries on students when flogging them. You should also institute a panel to look into the remote and the immediate causes of the demonstration.
Tunde Ojuri
(Senior Prefect.)