Disgruntled student burns down classroom

A disgruntled student has torched a K1 million classroom at Kilakila Secondary School in Moresby South.

The arson last Friday afternoon has been condemned by Moresby South MP Justin Tkatchenko as police hunt for the culprit who is still on the run after setting the building on fire.

The destruction at one of the oldest high schools in the country has affected about 200 students in grades 9 and 10.

The classroom, one of 16 recently opened, was burned allegedly by a student who was upset with the treatment he had received from teachers earlier in the day.

Between 3pm and 4pm on Friday afternoon, a student was seen by grounds-keepers of the school setting fire to the double-storey classroom before escaping through the back fence of the school.

Attempts to stop the fire were unsuccessful as the classroom caught fire and the flames spread quickly, helped by the strong wind.

When Post-Courier arrived at the scene, the top floor of the building was gutted, and collapsed to the lower level as fire fighters struggled to contain the blaze, but eventually managed to stop the fire.

At the scene, Mr Tkatchenko expressed his disgust at the fire and condemned the student’s action.

“I am totally devastated by the action of a student who was disciplined by teachers and because he didn’t like that he decided to burn a classroom down and destroyed a K1 million classroom. Because of one useless, selfish individual 200-plus students suffer,” the angry politician said.

I will make sure this person is caught and will face the full brunt of the law. I will not allow and tolerate this sort of behaviour.

– Moresby South MP, Justin Tkatchenko

Principal Herman Panai confirmed the fire and destruction, and indicated that the school was conducting its own investigation as well.

Attempts to get comments from the police were unsuccessful, but Mr Tkatchenko confirmed that the suspect was still on the run.

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Mirriam Zarriga

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I am a responsible, creative, with initiative and punctuality, I accept the challenges and goals that your organization could assign me, with good handle of the interpersonal relationships, ability to work in teams, ability to work under high pressure, so as to solve problems efficiently and achieve the goals set by the company and my work group.

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