Sunday November 13 is now a day in history for Rai Coast Lutheran Secondary School as staff and students made an oath against violence.
Five hundred students in grades nine and eleven, and teaching staff made a public oath to abstain from consuming alcohol and resorting to violence on campus.
The event involved clergymen from various Christian church denominations in the district including pastors from various Pentecostal churches and Fr. Francis Yass from Saidor Parish. These clergymen were witnesses to the occasion.
The oath read, “On this day take this oath before Elloihim, the Covenant God the possessor of heaven and earth, High Priest King Jesus Christ in front of all the pastors of various denominations, members of the school governing board, the school administration, the teaching staff, the leaders of the surrounding communities and fellow students; that I will not consume or even brew alcohol, misbehave or cause violence in the school grounds, as long as I am a student here at Raikos Secondary School. I must uphold, respect and abide by the set school laws that are in place and be fully governed by this law. If I fail, let god-inspired school laws judge me and I must humbly accept all consequences. ……I also extend this oath to the children of my LLG who will come after me must comply and abide by this very oath sworn by me at this date, Sunday 13th November 2022.”
The school disciplinary board chairman, James Mewo said it was a tough task to mobilize support from the students from different cultural background to make the oath.
Mewo said the local community are law-abiding and had over the years wanted peace and education services to flourish in that once.
However, students from other districts and provinces who attend school in Rai Coast, are known to engage in alcohol and drugs, and tend to influence their local peers.
Raikos Secondary school principal, Ernest Saweang thanked the clergymen for praying for the students and sharing bible messages with them.