Africa-Press – Namibia. ACCOMMODATION challenges will be a thing of the past for the pupils of four rural schools in the Zambezi region as the construction of community hostels has been completed.
The community hostels were built at Lusese, Ibbu, Sachona and Shesheke at a cost of N$1,3 million each. The deputy minister of education, arts and culture, Faustina Caley, during the official handover of the hostels on Wednesday said as much as the government has had success with regards to equal access to education for all Namibian children, it is also faced with tremendous challenges.
She said the challenges which still need to be addressed include a large backlog in school infrastructure such as classrooms, libraries, laboratories, and accommodation for pupils and teachers.
“In 2020, the government, through the National Planning Commission, provided N$800 million for the Covid-19 infrastructure development programme, which was implemented in all 14 regions. As such, these hostels were constructed because a lot of pupils lack accommodation, which has resulted in them squatting in unsafe and unhygienic areas around schools,” she said.
Caley said as such pupils are exposed to disease, sexual exploitation, teenage pregnancies and substance abuse. “Today, we are receiving completed hostel facilities for utilisation. We are expecting to see the immediate impact of the new facilities in terms of improved living conditions of pupils and better performance,” she said.
She said some principals keep completed ablution facilities locked or only allow teachers to use them, which is unacceptable. “I want the regional office to assess the utilisation of such facilities and deal with such individuals who are defeating the purpose of such interventions,” she said.
Caley not only urged the schools and communities to guard against the vandalising of the new facilities, but also pupils, saying their children would also have to make use of the facilities in the future.
She said the facilities were built without a budget for furniture, and appealed to the public to donate this. Lusese area headman Martin Siseho called on the government to further extend the facilities, since it is where pupils from affected schools are relocated to during floods.
“As a result, the schools are under pressure in terms of capacity and how they cope with learning and teaching. Therefore, if these school facilities are extended, pupils who are relocated will feel at home away from home,” he said.
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