School leaders must be held responsible for Muhazi death

Editor, One  of  the  first things that should  be done urgently in order to avert more deaths of students at Lake Muhazi is to arrest school authorities for negligence. Parents have repeatedly advised these school leaders to stop students from going to swim or fetch water from the lake, but they have refused to listen.

Monday, February 28, 2011
Lake Muhazi (File Photo)

Editor,

One  of  the  first things that should  be done urgently in order to avert more deaths of students at Lake Muhazi is to arrest school authorities for negligence.

Parents have repeatedly advised these school leaders to stop students from going to swim or fetch water from the lake, but they have refused to listen.

Erneste Munyangabe, the head teacher of Gakoni Polytechnic in Gatsibo District said the deceased; Egide Nshimyimfura had gone to fetch water due to scarcity of water in the school.

Why doesn’t the school administration hire people to fetch water? Is the head teacher aware that this is not the first time a student has died in this lake while trying to swim or fetch water?

When will these schools around Lake Muhazi learn to care for our children? In 2009, a sixteen year old female student, Vena Kaddu from Groupe Scolaire de Gahini in Eastern Province, also died in the same lake as she tried to swim.

I think it‘s high time police arrested such school authorities and charged them with negligence and causing death of the student.

Concerned Parent