RUNDU – Learners from the San community at government’s Bravo resettlement project in the Kavango West region are in need of a hostel.
The hostel has been budgeted for by the ministry since 2014 but to date not a single brick has been delivered.
The settlement is in the Mpungu constituency where teenage pregnancy and learners dropping out have been attributed to the absence of the hostel at the school. When New Era recently visited the area, learners said hunger makes them miss school constantly but with a hostel, they would eat and focus on their education.
In a submission to the National Council recently, which was signed off by the Kavango West regional council chairperson Joseph Sikongo, council noted that learners walk long distances to and from school which has led many marginalised learners to dropout.
“This school caters mainly for the San children in the settlement and surrounding villages. The construction of Bravo Primary School is long overdue,” he said.
“Some learners travel long distances to and from school and this has resulted in a high number of school dropouts. Therefore, we believe that the introduction of a hostel at Bravo settlement will help the learners. This project has been planned for some time now and budgeted for in the 2014/15 financial year but there have not been activities taking place on the ground.”
Sikongo requested the ministry of education to prioritise and deliver a hostel for Bravo community, in addition to other projects that are being requested and needed in the region.
In the submission, he further indicated that there was also a need for a hostel at Katjinakatji Secondary School in Mankupi constituency and this is one of the region’s priority projects under the ministry of education.
“We want to appreciate the budget received under Covid-19 for the construction of additional hostel blocks in the region. At least from this little budget received, the region has prioritised to construct three hostels, each with a capacity of 32 learners, a kitchen and dining hall at Katjinakatji although at a small scale, smaller size and not sufficient for all the needy learners,” he said
The Katjinakatji school has an intake of around 1 000 day scholars.
The school is challenged, by a high number of orphans and vulnerable children who walk long distances daily and some end up squatting in nearby homesteads with little to no food.
“The long distances have forced many learners to drop out of school, thus a hostel with a bigger capacity is needed at the school to accommodate learners,” he said.
jmuyamba@nepc.com.na