Hoima, Uganda | URN | A senior four student of Premier Secondary School in Hoima city has been admitted to EDPA Medical Center in Hoima in critical condition after being assaulted into coma by her biology teacher.
Brenda Matsika was reportedly assaulted on Tuesday 25, April 2023 afternoon by her teacher only named as Anthony. According to reports, the teacher accused Matsika of failing to achieve a passing grade in a biology examination administered to the senior four class.
It is alleged that the teacher repeatedly whipped the student, causing her to collapse. Richard Maate, the father of the victim, received a call from one of the teachers at the school informing him of the incident.
He rushed to the school, but the administration refused to grant him access to his daughter due to her critical condition. Eventually, he was taken to EDPA Medical Center by a school administrator and found his daughter admitted in critical condition. Maate has not yet registered a case with the police as he is still caring for his daughter, who remains in critical condition.
Moses Mugisa, the resident director at the school, has apologized for the incident and pledged to investigate the matter. Mugisa also stated that the school will cover all medical expenses for the victim.
Albertine Region police spokesperson Julius Hakiza, reports that the matter had not yet been reported to the police as of press time. This incident marks the second time in a month that teachers at Premier Secondary School have been accused of assaulting students.
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In March, another teacher Justus Mukiibi was accused of assaulting Joan Nyangoma, a senior two-student during an entrepreneurship examination. Nyangoma claimed that Mukiibi slapped her several times and locked her in an office, where he continued to assault her. After the incident, Nyangoma was taken to Jobita Medical Centre in Hoima City, where she was found to have been assaulted on her back, both hands and chest.
These incidents have raised concerns about the use of corporal punishment in schools which was abolished in Uganda in 2016 by the insertion of a new article, 106A, into the Children Act. The article stipulates that a person of authority in an institution of learning must not subject a child to any form of corporal punishment.
