Calabar expels three boys accused of fondling teacher
THREE of eight teenage boys accused of fondling a female drama teacher at the Calabar High School nearly two weeks ago, were on Friday expelled, while a fourth boy had his 10-day suspension extended.
Board members met last Friday and ruled that the three teens be given the boot as all the evidence pointed to their guilt.
School principal Captain Lincoln Thaxter told the Observer that the board found all three “sufficiently guilty to deserve expulsion”, but said he could provide no further details on the matter since it is now with the Ministry of Education.
Last Monday, the board reinstated four of the boys who were on 10-day suspensions on condition that they received counselling.
“… It was found that with counselling, they should return to school,” Thaxter said.
The eight boys — all grade eight students in the 13-14 age groups — were slapped with a 10-day suspension, which expired Friday, after they were accused of fondling the teacher two Mondays ago as she made a presentation during a drama class.
At the time, the school said the boys were suspended for “inappropriate conduct”.
Since then, the boys have appeared before the board’s disciplinary committee, during which they were all represented by their parents, with one student taking along alegal counsel.
But last Friday, the board took its final decision, which according to principal Thaxter, is sending a warning that such conduct will not be “tolerated” at the school.
“We are running a school here, and our goal is to provide all the students with a safe, orderly and disciplined environment,” he told the Observer.
“Those who show that they are not willing to abide by our rules will have to go some place else.”
He added that the school would be seeking newer approaches to discipline to avoid a repeat of the fondling incident, which he said further tarnished the school’s reputation.
“We are going to continue doing some of the same things we have been doing, but we will also be targeting parents to develop better parenting skills and encourage them to take greater interest in their children,” he said, noting that there would be regular counselling sessions for the boys.
“The board, the Parent and Teachers’ Association and all the stakeholders of the school are extremely concerned about what happened… it represents a kind of general breakdown in the society,” he said.
