Africa-Press – Namibia. A NUMBER of schools in the Oshikoto region are experiencing severe water shortages, seriously impacting pupils’ academic performance and attendance rates.
Pupils are forced to attend school despite the absence of water at school permises. Toilets are affected, leaving pupils and teachers no choice but to use toilets which cannot be flushed, or bushes to relieve themselves.
A school principal at a primary school in the King Kauluma constituency, who preferred to remain anonymous, says the school has been operating without water and sanitation since the beginning of the academic year.
“Our taps are running dry, we do not have water. We sometimes receive tanks of water from the rural water supply, but often operate without a single drop.
“It is a very serious situation, and we are afraid it may affect pupils’ performance. It is hard for children to cope while they are hungry or thirsty, and it is also unhygienic to operate a school without running water,” he says.
Minister of education, arts and culture Anna Nghipondoka during a recent visit to schools in the northern regions said schools in the King Kauluma constituency in the Oshikoto region are the hardest hit by extreme water shortages.
“At some schools you will find the hostel is built with Covid-19 funds, but is not operating because there is no water. Many schools in the remote rural areas have water-pressure problems, and these are some of the challenges we are experiencing as a ministry.
“We are trying to find solutions with NamWater and the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform to understand what can be done, because the quality of education at the moment is affected, and the morale at the schools has gone down,” she said.
The ministry currently provides schools with water tankers. Oshikoto education director Aletta Eises this week could not say how many schools are affected, although the situation is under control, she said.
“All I can say is the situation is under control, and we are monitoring it.
“For the affected schools we have bought water tankers, and the rural water supply ferries water to the affected schools. At King Kauluma School, which is the worst affected, they have a borehole which they are currently using to get water,” she said.
Out of 223 schools in the region, only 1% are affected by the water crisis. Eises said the directorate is in the process of digging five additional boreholes at schools and procuring water tankers for schools in the remote rural areas.
Earlier this month, the chief executive officer of NamWater, Abraham Nehemia, undertook a visit to the northern regions to assess the situation on the ground.
NamWater is currently experiencing low pressure in pipes, and water cannot reach many areas. The water crisis affects a number of constituencies in the Oshikoto, Oshana, Omusati and Ohangwena regions.
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