When sometime in '97 when I left primary school, hopes were that I would be admitted into one of the unity schools but as fate would have it, I ended up in FESTAC GRAMMAR SCHOOL. At that period when private secondary schools were for the super rich, I settled down hoping to enjoy my stay (which I did anyway).

A school which many people in my hood had attended, I went in with great expectations. Fot those of us who attended private primary schools, coping was not as easy but we still forged ahead. Right from the onset the school was referred to as a poultry just because it lacked modern structures. As at the late 90's, there was no functional library, the school clinic and computer room were under lock and key. We went to school and were called chickens since our school was referred to as a poultry, very annoying but we still persisted and hoped that government will do something before long.

One thing however that worked for the school was the academic excellence. Little wonder in 1998, the school won the "bournvita brain match" contest, this got the school some computers. People attended from as far mile 2, kirikiri town, satellite town, and other parts of Lagos. That was how popular festac grammar school was despite its shabby structure, the academic standard was good.

From the early 2000s however, academic standards starting falling as reflected in the yearly SSCE result of the school. My class for example didn't have a physics teacher for over a session, we didn't have a chemistry teacher for a while too. All through SS1, we had an english teacher who won't come to class but always sends test and exams as and when due. Only the biology teacher made us feel like students, God bless him wherever he is right now.

So we eventually left in 2003 and for years I did not return to the school until earlier this year when an ALUMNI was formed by different sets as one. It spans from the first set(84/85) to the latest set (2011). Holding monthly meetings since April this year, the alumni has waxed on stronger and stronger. One thing that was brought to our notice is that the school is a Lagos state property and so we can't do anything about it in terms of erecting structures. It was interesting and also sad when we discovered that FESTAC GRAMMAR school is the only school in the whole of Amuwo Odofin Local Education District with such "poultry like structure" and without a modern building. According to an ex student, the only 'manageable' building is a one storey donated to the school in the 80s for its academic excellence. Since then the school has been neglected from further development. The senior school benefited from ICT equipments donated by the government but the junior school could not benefit because there was no room and no electricity, it was taken to another school.

The Alumni which I'm a regular member has done little things from the school in our little capacity but more needs to be done because the school has become a shadow of its old self, population has drastically reduced from our days, structures are life threatning and in need of urgent attention by the Lagos state government who is soley responsible for the development of the school as one of its properties. If the state government won't allow "intruders" on its property then it should be bold enough to tackle the problems facing "our" school.

As I conclude, I want to appeal to the ever dependable Lagos state governor to come to the rescue of the school, unconfirmed source claimed the governor has been to the school before. I, on behalf of the FGS ALUMNI appeal to the Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN to save the school from further degradation.

As the school anthem concludes"GOD BLESS PRESERVE OUR DEAR SCHOOL, FESTAC GRAMMAR SCHOOL"

http://pheesayor.blogspot.com/2011/09/school-is-dire-need-festac-grammar.html

ABBOTTABAD, Pakistan – When a woman involved in a polio vaccine drive turned up at Osama bin Laden's hideaway, she remarked to the men behind the high walls about the expensive SUVs parked inside. The men took the vaccine, apparently to administer to the 23 children at the compound, and told her to go away.

The terror chief and his family kept well hidden behind thick walls in this northwestern hill town they shared with thousands of Pakistani soldiers. But glimpses of their life are emerging — along with deep skepticism that authorities didn't know they were there.

Although the house is large, it was unclear how three dozen people could have lived there with any degree of comfort.

Neighbors said they knew little about those inside in the compound but bin Laden apparently depended on two men who would routinely emerge to run errands or to a neighborhood gathering, such as a funeral. There were conflicting details about the men's identities. Several people said they were known as Tariq and Arshad Khan and had identified themselves as cousins from elsewhere in northwestern Pakistan. Others gave different names and believed they were brothers.

Arshad was the oldest, and both spoke multiple languages, including Pashto and Urdu, which are common here, residents said.

As Navy SEALs swept through the compound early Monday, they handcuffed those they encountered with plastic zip ties and pressed on in pursuit of bin Laden. After killing the terror leader, his son and two others, they doubled back to move nine women and 23 children away from the compound, according to U.S. officials.

Those survivors of the raid are now "in safe hands and being looked after in accordance to the law," the Pakistani government said in a statement. "As per policy, they will be handed over to their countries of origin." It did not elaborate.

Also unclear was why bin Laden chose Abbottabad, though at least two other top al-Qaida leaders have sheltered in this town. The bustling streets are dotted with buildings left over from British colonial days. These days it attracts some tourists, but is known mostly as a garrison town wealthier than many others in Pakistan.

Bin Laden found it safe enough to stay for up to six years, according to U.S. officials, a stunning length of time to remain in one place right under the noses of a U.S.-funded army that had ostensibly been trying to track him down. Most intelligence assessments believed him to be along the Afghan-Pakistan border, perhaps in a cave.

Construction of the three-story house began about seven years ago, locals said. People initially were curious about the heavily fortified compound — which had walls as high as 18 feet topped with barbed wire — but over time they just grew to believe the family inside was deeply religious and conservative.

The Pakistani government also pushed back at suggestions that security forces were sheltering bin Laden or failed to spot suspicious signs.

"It needs to be appreciated that many houses (in the northwest) have high boundary walls, in line with their culture of privacy and security," the government said. "Houses with such layout and structural details are not a rarity."

The house has been described as a mansion, even a luxury one, but from the outside it is nothing special. Bin Laden may have well have been able to take in a view of the hills from secluded spots in the garden, though.

The walls are stained with mold, trees are in the garden and the windows are hidden. U.S. officials said the house had no Internet or phone connection to reduce the risk of electronic surveillance. They also said residents burned their trash to avoid collection.

Those who live nearby said the people in bin Laden's compound rarely strayed outside. Most were unaware that foreigners — bin Laden and his family are Arabs — were living there.

Khurshid Bibi, in her 70s, said one man living in the compound had given her a lift to the market in the rain. She said her grandchildren played with the kids in the house and that the adults there gave them rabbits as a gift.

But the occupants also attracted criticism.

"People were skeptical in this neighborhood about this place and these guys. They used to gossip, say they were smugglers or drug dealers. People would complain that even with such a big house they didn't invite the poor or distribute charity," said Mashood Khan, a 45-year-old farmer.

Questions persisted about how authorities could not have known who was living in the compound, especially since it was close to a prestigious military academy.

As in other Pakistani towns, hotels in Abbottabad are supposed to report the presence of foreigners to the police, as are estate agents. Abbottabad police chief Mohammed Naeem said the police followed the procedures but "human error cannot be avoided."

Reporters were allowed to get as far as the walls of the compound for the first time, but the doors were sealed shut and police were in no mood to open them.

Neighbors showed off small parts of what appeared to be a U.S. helicopter that malfunctioned and was disabled by the American strike team as it retreated. A small servant's room outside the perimeter showed signs of violent entry and a brisk search. Clothes and bedding had been tossed aside. A wall clock was on the floor, the time stuck at 2:20.

Abbottabad has so far been spared the terrorist bombings that have scarred much of Pakistan over the last four years.

Like many Pakistani towns where the army has a strong presence, Abbottabad is well-manicured, and has solid infrastructure. Street signs tell residents to "Love Pakistan." The city also is known for its good schools, including some that were originally established by Christian missionaries.

Little girls wear veils while carrying Hannah Montana backpacks to school. Many houses in the outlying areas have modern amenities, but lie along streets covered with trash. Shepherds herd their flock of sheep along dusty roads just a few hundred yards from modern banks.

Al-Qaida's No. 3, Abu Faraj al-Libi, lived in the town before his arrest in 2005 elsewhere in northwest Pakistan, according to U.S. and Pakistani officials. Earlier this year, Indonesian terror suspect Umar Patek was nabbed at a house in the town following the arrest of an al-Qaida courier who worked at the post office. It is not clear whether Patek had any links with bin Laden.

Western officials have long regarded Pakistani security forces with suspicion, chiefly over their links to militants fighting in Afghanistan. Last year, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton caused anger in Pakistan when she said she found it "hard to believe" that no one in Islamabad knows where the al-Qaida leaders are hiding and couldn't get them "if they really wanted to."

But al-Qaida has been responsible for scores of bloody attacks inside Pakistan, including on its army and civilian leaders. Critics of Pakistan have speculated that a possible motivation for Pakistan to have kept bin Laden on the run — rather than arresting or killing him — would be to ensure a constant flow of U.S. aid and weapons into the country.

Suspicions were also aired in Pakistani media and on the street Tuesday.

"That house was obviously a suspicious one," said Jahangir Khan, who was buying a newspaper in Abbottabad. "Either it was a complete failure of our intelligence agencies or they were involved in this affair."

___

Associated Press Writer Chris Brummitt in Islamabad contribute to this report.

Article extracted from 

Hoodlums rape 5 secondary school students in Owerri

By Chidi Nkwopara

OWERRI-Dare devil hoodlums numbering about 10, reportedly broke into the premises of Owerri Girls Secondary School last Sunday and raped five senior secondary school students.

.
Confirming the ugly incident to newsmen in Owerri, the Principal, Senior Section, Mrs. Pat Uche Obasi, said the hoodlums stormed the SS3 dormitory between 1:00am and 2:00am but escaped when men of Imo State Police Command intervened.

Lamenting that the hoodlums succeeded in raping five girls, the principal also recalled that the bandits equally escaped through the hole they created in the school fence.

"These boys came from the back of the school premises. They came through a hole they created in the fence, armed with cutlasses, rods and what looked like a gun and went into SS3 dormitory. They succeeded in raping about five students in the process," the principal said.

The Divisional Police Officer, DPO, at the New Owerri Police Division, Mr. Okezie Okoroafor, confirmed the incident and explained that when he got a distress call from the former principal of the school, he quickly mobilized his men and intervened.

He said his men were able to rescue the school security officers, whose hands were tied to their legs by the rampaging rapists and assured the students and their parents that security had been beefed up in the school.

THE UK has agreed to tighten its cap on migration from outside the UK, but committed not to limit intra-company transfer of qualified employees...

From 2011 onwards the number of skilled and highly skilled workers from outside the European Economic Area allowed to move to the UK will be capped at 21,700 – that is 22.5% fewer than the equivalent figure in 2009.

However, in a victory to multinational companies who had been lobbying hard against limits on their ability to transfer staff between global offices, there will be no limit on intra-company transfer of staff earning £40,000/y or more.

The limit is the highest of a range of options recommended to the government by independent migration advisors. Advisors had recommended curbing immigration at 43,700. That is 6300 less than the 50,000 skilled immigrants from outside the EU who arrived in the UK in 2009. However, the 50,000 arrivals also included 22,000 who were transferred between company offices, hence these 22,000 were subtracted from the maximum.

Tuition fees to triple in the UK

Following David Cameron’s pledge to dramatically reduce immigration the number of foreign student visas will be cut to 120,000.

Home Secretary, Theresa May, unveiled plans yesterday to limit that number of skilled non-European workers allowed to enter Britain to 21,700. Staff with transfer jobs under the same employer in England will be excluded. This allows for a total of between 35,000 and 40,000 skilled workers to enter Britain.

Foreign students make up 60 per cent of migrants to Britain. Therefore, May stated that in the future only those applying for degree courses will be issued a visa...
No place for people enroling into fake schools to run away and hussle


May explained to Parliament that a quarter of those issued visas to study below degree level were unaccounted for. She believes students at these lower levels of education have been abandoning school in favor of living and working. May stated that this must be stopped.
At last measures being taken to stop the fake applications

It is estimated that 40 per cent of the 300,000 current student visas are for education below the degree level. May announced that under this new scheme visas would only be issued for universities, further education colleges and a few specially selected institutions.

Also student fees will rise which will make paying difficult.
Universities in England will be able to charge tuition fees of up to £9,000 per year from 2012, as the government transfers much of the cost of courses from the state to students.

Fees will rise to £6,000, with an upper tier of £9,000 That is N2,139,890

Fees should be payed up front for full tuition which is not refundable to prevent husslers leaving after first term to work.

An aircraft conveying President Goodluck Jonathan’s aides, landed in a primary school last Wednesday amidst pandemonium. TOYOSI OGUNSEYE writes that over 12 students were injured in the stampede

It looked like a scene from a movie. Initially, pupils of Apostolic Church Secondary School, Ketu, Lagos, saw the aircraft hovering in the air and this was enough to distract those sitting close to the windows from their early morning classes.

The teachers in different classes that morning were curious about what their pupils were looking at, so they also looked out of the window and saw that the plane was descending closer to the roof of the building.

No one needed to tell them to run. Once the teachers took to their heels, perhaps thinking it was air mishap, the students followed en masse. With loud screams, everyone ran as fast as their legs could carry them. Some of the students on the second floor of the school building attempted to jump down in a bid to save their lives. One of them was an eight-year-old JSS1 student who landed on her buttocks and could no longer stand. Eleven other students were severely injured.

While this pandemonium was going on, the airforce plane with number NAV541 landed on the school premises. Heavily armed soldiers alighted from the aircraft and surveyed the area without saying a word.

When the fleeing students and members of staff saw that the aircraft had successfully landed, they surrounded it, with curiosity written all over their faces. The scene further attracted passers-by and people in the neighbourhood who trooped to the school. The armed soldiers ignored the crowd, went back into the plane and, after a few minutes, took off.

The injured students were then taken to the school‘s official clinic, Delta Crown Hospital, Ketu, where some of them were given first-aid treatment and discharged. Two of the students were still in the hospital as at last Thursday, including the young girl who fell from one of the two-storey buildings in the school. An X-ray showed that the girl had no broken bones but she had a severe tear in her private part, which had to be stitched.

The mothers of one of the children who were admitted in the hospital pleaded anonymity and said, “I have five children in that school. I thank God that my daughter is alive and I‘m not crying. I am not ready to make a case of this or even talk to the media because God has given me a reason to rejoice and not cry.”

One of the people in the area who witnessed the incident identified himself as Yemi. According to him, he was about to have his bath when he felt the building shaking. He said, ”I live just two houses away from the school. I had an appointment that morning and was about to have my bath when I heard a very loud noise outside; my room was also vibrating. So, I looked out of the window and saw a plane moving towards the ground. I ran out of my house in my boxers.”

Yemi added that he joined the crowd when the plane landed. ”When some of the soldiers alighted from the plane, they left the door slightly ajar. I saw some soldiers inside, but some people whispered that the President was inside the plane.”

It was gathered that the pilot and some of the crew muttered that the plane had ‘a problem.‘

The school authorities declined to make any comment about the incident. It was however gathered that Ketu Police Division, and the Lagos State ministries of health and education visited the school and the hospital a day after Jonathan‘s visit.

The Public Relations Officer of the Lagos State Police Command, Mr. Frank Mba, could not confirm SUNDAY PUNCH‘s findings. He said, he was not aware of the incident.

The President was on a visit to the flooded areas in Ajegunle, Agboyi-Ketu Local Council Development Area on October 20 when the plane made an emergency landing in the school.

The Director, Public Relations and Information of the Airforce, Air Commodore Yusuf Anas said, “It was a flight to survey the area where the president was visiting. It was not an emergency flight. The presidential aides were in it. We were not aware that 12 children were injured.”

Efforts to speak to the senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, Ima Niboro, proved abortive. When our correspondent called his mobile line on Friday night, he did not pick it. Neither did he respond to the text message sent to him.

It could be recalled that a Cessna Model T9B training aircraft belonging to the Nigeria College of Aviation Technology, Zaria, Kaduna State, crash-landed at a village just outside Kano on May 2, 2010. It plunged into a farmland at Katoge Village, directly behind the Science Secondary School at Dawakin Tofa, about 20 kilometres from Kano City.

Three occupants of the light training plane escaped unhurt and the aircraft was not badly damaged. Those on board the plane included the college instructor, Mr. Ozogwu as well as Akerele Ojo Olu and Jafar Suleman, who are trainees.

source punchng

http://bit.ly/abDtav

The Oke-Ijebu area of Akure metropolis was, yesterday, thrown into mayhem as a 10-year-old pupil of All Saints Anglican Primary School allegedly pulled the trigger of a single barrel gun found behind the toilet of the school and killed his friend.

Unknown people had dropped two single barrel guns at the back of the toilet of the Primary School, in Oke-Ijebu. The students, who were playing during the break time, discovered the guns and started playing with them, thinking they were toys. In the process, one of the boys mistakenly pulled the trigger and killed his playmate in the process. The shooter also sustained injuries in the process.

The agitated residents of the area trooped to the school premises to confirm the incident, with parents expressing their worries about the condition of pupils in the school. Some of the parents hurriedly took their children home. The name of the two students involved in the incident was not confirmed as at press time. The school authorities declined to speak with journalists. The school was closed down, and the corpse of the dead student was deposited at a mortuary, while the injured one was receiving treatment at the state specialist hospital.

Aremu Adeniran, the spokesperson for the Ondo State Police Command, confirmed the incident, adding that the police suspect that the two guns were hid there by armed robbers. He also said that a sledge hammer, cutlass and other instrument were recovered, were unearthed during a routine search after the incident. According to him, investigations are ongoing to unravel those behind the cache..

Aba, the economic nerve centre of Abia State, is almost a ghost of itself with schools and banks closed, as the siege on the city and its adjoining local governments by kidnappers, continue. There is growing uncertainty over the early release of the 15 school children abducted on Monday on their way to school..

The Abia state Commissioner of Police, Jonathan Johnson, however, said the closure of banks was a panic measure that did not reflect the real security situation in the city, adding that there were enough security personnel posted to each of the banks in the city.

Throughout the metropolis, as well as the Ogbor hill and Umungasi areas of Aba, there is a near absence of school buses that usually run through the streets to pick school children, and the few that were seen were without pupils, as their parents were afraid of sending them to school. Virtually every private school in the city has voluntarily closed.

There were also no march past rehearsals in the schools that were open as was the case in most of the schools last week, in preparation for our nations golden jubilee celebration.

One of the proprietors of the schools visited, who closed her school yesterday, said it was sad that the government has shown no commensurate interest in the safety of the kids the same way they did when the four journalists were kidnapped. She expressed wonder that the government could not buy tracking equipment for the police since they know that kidnapping in Aba has become endemic and sophisticated, rather than engaging in an amnesty that will not work, as the kidnappers are mere criminals who might not embrace the programme.

“This amnesty thing will not work. These are armed robbers who are into kidnapping because it is an easier way of picking their millions without sweat,” she said.

Fighting talk

Meanwhile, the heavy presence of soldiers was noticed in Aba on Thursday, especially along the Port Harcourt Express Road, an indication that the government might possibly go on the offensive against the hoodlums.

In a broadcast to the state, the governor, Theodore Orji, assured the parents of the kidnapped children that his administration, in conjunction with the federal government, was doing everything in their power to ensure that the young victims are released quickly and safely to rejoin their parents, teachers and friends.

He emphasised that his government is determined to stop this trend of kidnapping in Abia State. “Despite attempts to build a theory of intentions around the incidents of kidnapping in Abia State, our view now is that these kidnappers are not reacting to any realistic issues that are of utmost importance to their societies or to the state,” he said.

“These kidnappers are mere gold diggers, whose resolution and trade ambition is to make easy money and to secure the betterment of themselves alone, and so the government will not allow a few disgruntled elements in criminal garb to hold the entire state hostage. Government has been challenged, and we have decided to take the utmost measure available to implement the might and weight of government’s forces.”

Meanwhile, the police have raided the camps of some suspected kidnappers in Ukwa West area of the state. However, the kidnappers had escaped before the arrival of the police.

Fifteen students of Abayi International School, Aba, were on Monday morning abducted in their school bus in Abia State.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the driver of the bus had picked the children at designated points and was on the way to school when the suspected kidnappers struck. NAN learnt that a Toyota Camry saloon car blocked the bus and the occupants, and men brandishing guns alighted and ordered it to stop.

"As the driver came down, the hoodlums collected his cell phone and ordered him to lie face down while they drove off with the pupils towards Etche in Rivers (State)," an eyewitness told NAN.
Most of the abducted students are said to be mostly nursery and primary school pupils.

Geoffrey Ogbonna, the Abia State Police Command spokesperson, told NAN that he was yet to get any report on the incidence as at press time..
The kidnappers are said to be demanding N20 million as ransom.

The Abia State Government, last week, gave kidnappers in the State two weeks ultimatum to surrender their weapons and be rehabilitated by in an amnesty programme.

A Minnesota teenager had to have his testicle amputated after
being punched in the groin by a classmate, KARE11.com reported
Friday.

David Gibbons, 14, was changing classes in his Crosby, Minn. high school when he was attacked by another student playing a game
called “sack tapping.”

David’s mother, Christy Gibbons, said it wasn’t until hours later that they realized something was wrong.

"One o'clock in the morning he woke me up and told me he was in excruciating pain," she said.

David was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Brainerd, Minn. where surgeons removed his right testicle.

And David is not the only student who has suffered the consequences of the “sack tapping” game.

"It's just gotten way out of control," said Dr. Scott Wheeler, a urologist in Brainerd, Minn. who says he performs three to four
surgeries a year on boys with ruptured testicles and other
complications as a result of “sack tapping.”

"One o'clock in the morning he woke me up and told me he was in excruciating pain," recalls Christy Gibbons, David's mom. Not long
after, David was in surgery at St. Joseph's Hospital in Brainerd having
his right testicle removed.

"This may be called a game, but it's not a game. It's dangerous and it needs to stop," said Christy.

It's a notion seconded by Dr. Scott Wheeler, a Brainerd urologist.

"It's just gotten way out of control," said Wheeler, who now performs "three to four surgeries a year" on boys with ruptured testicles and
other complications of being groin punched - with dozens more coming in
with less severe injuries. "It's high school, junior high, elementary
school," said Wheeler.

Dubbed "sack tapping" by some students, the practice is now featured in dozens of homemade videos on YouTube.

"We're gonna see who our first victim is," says a student in one video before punching an unsuspecting male student in the groin as he
walked down a school hallway.

It is painful to watch and Dr. Wheeler says increasingly common. "All parents, you need to have this talk with your kids not to do it. It's
lost its humor. It's not a game anymore. People get hurt."

"I don't know how to stop it," said David, who says he's been the recipient of similar attacks in the past. His parents pulled him out of
school and are now planning a move to a different school district.

Jamie Skjeveland, superintendent of Crosby Ironton schools, says the investigation of the incident involving David is complete, but he
declined to comment on any disciplinary action for privacy reasons.

On Wednesday morning the Gibbons are scheduled to meet with Crow Wing County Attorney Don Ryan to learn if criminal charges will be filed
against the other student.

"This kid doing that, he should definitely be held responsible for that," said Denny Gibbons, David's dad.

Doctors have told David that even though he lost a testicle in the attack, he should still be able to have children someday.

David's mom mostly wants other parents to be aware. "I seen the pain he was in. I seen what he went through every day, and it just breaks my
heart and I don't want any other child to have to go through this."

BEIJING – A former medical worker allegedly stabbed to death eight young children and wounded five others Tuesday in a bloody rampage outside an elementary school in eastern China.

The attacker struck in the morning as students arrived for classes, mingling with parents at the school gates before suddenly pulling out his knife and slashing children, according to witnesses interviewed on local television.

In the aftermath, doctors treated small children and bodies lay covered in bloody sheets after the attack at Nanping City Experimental Elementary School in Fujian province. Police officers manned a cordon around the school. Some comforted distraught parents..

China has witnessed a series of school attacks in recent years, most blamed on people with personal grudges or suffering from mental illness, leading to calls for improved security.

The rampage in Nanping was finally stopped by passers-by and school security guards and the attacker was arrested, the reports said. The suspect was identified as Zheng Minsheng, 41.

Zheng worked as a senior nurse in a community clinic before resigning last June, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing Huang Zhongping, spokesman for the Nanping city public security bureau.

Zheng was known to have a history of mental illness, said a man surnamed Wu in the Nanping city government office, who would not give his full name as is common among Chinese officials.

An unidentified former co-worker interviewed on Fujian television said Zheng was "difficult to get along with."

Eight children were killed, and five were being treated at a hospital, Wu said. Six died at the scene, which was smeared with blood from the sidewalk to the floor of an inner reception room.

The victims' ages were not immediately known, but Chinese elementary schools typically have students ages 6 to 12.

The school was closed and students were sent home for the day. Counseling will be provided for students when classes resume Wednesday, Xinhua said.

Recent school attacks include a July 2007 assault in which a mentally ill man wielding a wrench wounded 18 children and a teacher in a kindergarten in southern China before fleeing on a motorcycle and trying to stab himself to death.

In June the same year, a man slashed four students, wounding one seriously, in a high school in the southeastern city of Fuzhou, while elsewhere, police shot dead a suspected mentally ill man who threatened to blow up a school in southern China with dynamite.

China's worst such incident in March 2001 destroyed a schoolhouse and killed at least 42 people, most of them children. Officials blamed a mentally ill man who charged into the school in Jiangxi province with a bag full of dynamite. Parents disputed that, claiming their children had been forced to make fireworks at the school.

A northern Mississippi school district will not be hosting a high school prom this spring after a lesbian student sought to attend with her girlfriend and wear a tuxedo.

The Itawamba County school district's board decided Wednesday to drop the prom because of what it called recent distractions but without specifically mentioning the girl's request, which was backed by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The student, 18-year-old high school senior Constance McMillen, said the cancellation was retaliation for her efforts to bring her girlfriend, also a student, to the April 2 dance.

"A bunch of kids at school are really going to hate me for this, so in a way it's really retaliation," McMillen told The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson. Calls to McMillen by The Associated Press late Wednesday went unanswered.

School policy requires that senior prom dates be of the opposite sex. The ACLU of Mississippi had given the district until Wednesday to change that policy, arguing that banning same-sex prom dates violated McMillen's constitutional rights.

Instead, the school board met and issued a statement announcing it wouldn't host the event at Itawamba County Agricultural High School in Fulton, "due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events."

The statement didn't mention McMillen or the ACLU. When asked by The Associated Press if McMillen's demand led to the cancellation, school board attorney Michele Floyd said she could only reference the statement.

"It is our hope that private citizens will organize an event for the juniors and seniors," district officials said in the statement. "However, at this time, we feel that it is in the best interest of the Itawamba County School District, after taking into consideration the education, safety and well being of our students."

Kristy Bennett, legal director for the ACLU of Mississippi, said the district was trying to avoid the issue.

"But that doesn't take away their legal obligations to treat all the students fairly," Bennett said. "On Constance's behalf, this is unfair to her. All she's trying to do is assert her rights."

Itawamba County is a rural area of about 23,000 people in north Mississippi near the Alabama state line. It's near Pontotoc County, Miss., where more than a decade ago school officials were sued in federal court over their practice of student-led intercom prayer and Bible classes.

Anna Watson, a 17-year-old junior at the high school, was looking forward to the prom, especially since the town's only hotspot is the bowling alley, she said.

"I am a little bummed out about it. I guess it's a decision that had to be made. Either way someone was going to get disappointed — either Constance was or we were," Watson said. "I don't agree with homosexuality, but I can't change what another person thinks or does."

Other students are on McMillen's side.

McKenzie Chaney, 16, said she wasn't planning to attend the prom, but "it's kind of ridiculous that they can't let her wear the tuxedo and it all be over with."

A Feb. 5 memo to students laid out the criteria for bringing a date to the prom, and one requirement was that the person must be of the opposite sex.

The ACLU said McMillen approached school officials shortly before the memo went out because she knew same-sex dates had been banned in the past. The ACLU said district officials told McMillen she and her girlfriend wouldn't be allowed to arrive together, that she would not be allowed to wear a tuxedo, and that she and her girlfriend might be asked to leave if their presence made any other students "uncomfortable."

McMillen said she feared she would be thrown out of the prom because "we do live in the Bible Belt."