Gambiaj.com – (BANJUL, The Gambia) – Students of Yunus English School on Monday staged a protest within the school premises following a reported clash between teachers and the school management.
The exact nature of the disagreement between the teachers and the administration remains unclear, but the situation reportedly escalated after students became involved, leading to demonstrations on the campus.
Videos and information circulating online showed students gathered within the school compound as tensions unfolded. There has been no official statement yet from the school management detailing the cause of the dispute or explaining what triggered the protest.
The latest unrest adds to a series of controversies that have recently placed the school under public scrutiny.
In April, students at Yunus English School were seen livestreaming on social media during class hours, sparking criticism from members of the public and education observers.
Following the incident, What’s On – Gambia publicly called for mobile phones to be banned in schools. Instead of immediately identifying the students involved, the school management reportedly wrote to the media outlet requesting that it expose the faces of the students before disciplinary action could be taken, a request What’s On – Gambia said it could not honor because the students were minors.
Responding to the matter at the time, Saikou Waggeh, an administrative staff member at Yunus English School, acknowledged the seriousness of the incident.
“We acknowledge that the incident was unfortunate, and although it is the type of situation that should have been prevented, it unfortunately occurred,” he stated.
However, the school later issued another statement disputing how the incident was being portrayed publicly.
According to the school, “The situation being circulated is being misrepresented.” The administration said Grade 12 students had been engaged in Physical Health Education practical sessions at the field when the incident occurred and maintained that the students seen in the viral video were not part of that activity.
The school had also faced another major controversy in December last year when a Grade 11 female student allegedly stabbed a teacher in the hand with a knife.
The incident shocked many Gambians and resulted in a criminal case. Reports indicated that despite pressure from various quarters to drop the matter, the teacher refused to forgive the student accused of stabbing him.
The student later appeared before the court in Brikama.
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