Matric pupils hurt in exam chaos

2009-11-12 15:55

Two pupils at a Western Cape school have been injured after police used rubber bullets to disperse a mob that had disrupted matric pupils writing their exams.
Cape Town - Two pupils from the Lagunya Finishing School, in the Western Cape, were injured on Thursday when police used rubber bullets to disperse an angry mob disrupting matric examinations at Langa Secondary School.

"It got quite bad, according to information received from the district, two pupils were injured in the violence. Police had to use rubber bullets to contain the crowd," said education spokesperson Bronagh Casey.

However, police were unable to confirm the injuries.

"We are still waiting for the Langa police to give us a report, but we are looking into that," Captain Nomathemba Muavha said.

The mob marched to Langa Secondary School on Thursday morning while matrics were writing their English paper and forced their way into the classroom.

"There is some damage to the school. The pupils will have to rewrite the paper at a later stage," said Casey.

Chaos erupted over the department of education's possible closure of Lagunya Finishing School, as the current model for schooling in the country does not make provision for the operation of finishing schools.

Casey said the public consultation process regarding a decision on whether to close the school was still being finalised and that no decision had been taken yet.

Several other schools were also affected by the dissatisfied pupils including Kulani Secondary, where police prevented the mob from entering the premises.

The group also tried to disrupt exams at Ikamvalethu Secondary and Isilimela Secondary schools.

"The MEC has appealed to all affected parties to exercise restraint and to avoid deliberately inflaming emotions around the Lagunya issue to score political points," Casey said.
 

- SAPA