Fees ‘claim’ life

A HIGH school girl committed suicide after her school allegedly refused to accept a part payment of her project fees. The student identified as 18-year-old Tan Mukap died at the Kudjip Nazarene Hospital in Jiwaka Province last Saturday allegedly from the consumption of gramoxone, which is an herbicide that can be fatal if swallowed. A relative of the deceased and South Wahgi LLG council manager, Johnny Maia, said the girl fronted up at the Milep Lutheran High School with K170 but was refused enrolment and was asked to pay K200 in full as project fees. He said she had no other choice to further her education after her rejection and consequently took her own life. Tragically, the girl lost both of her biological parents when she was a toddler and was raised by an uncle from Kopung village outside Minj. According to Mr Maia the deceased stayed home and returned to school after three-days, hoping the school officials would have a change of heart, only to be turned away yet again. On her return to Minj she purchased the deadly substance and consumed it, leading to her hospitalisation and eventual death. “She came back to Minj and used this money to buy gramoxone and went home and on Thursday morning (last week) she consumed it and I rushed her to nearby Kudjip Nazarene Hospital. The Government policy is clear that all schools across the country must not send the students away, if they do not have the project fee (wait) until parents will pay slowly and complete it before the end of the academic year,” Mr Maia said. The relatives of the deceased are now seeking legal advice and are planning to sue the school. The suicide is the first such case in the new province according to the Anglimp South Wahgi district education advisor, Erwin Us. Conveying his sympathy to the relatives of the deceased, the education advisor said the student was committed to her education. Mr Us said it is likely many students face similar problems but keep silent, though committing suicide was not a solution to school fee problems. Milep High School headmaster Gabriel Murang defended his school, saying they were not responsible for the student’s death and all schools nationwide were collecting K200. Despite the headmaster’s refusal to accept responsibility, the school later contributed K1000 towards their late student’s funeral expenses. By Mal Taime