RUNDU – The Mutwarantja Primary School in the Rundu Rural constituency has suspended classes for a second week due to a critical lack of functional and safe sanitation facilities. 

The school’s pit latrines, used by both teachers and learners (grades 0-7), are reportedly unsafe. 

“We suspended classes on 22 January and will only resume when there’s a solution. We have given our grievances to the directorate of education, and we are awaiting action,” said the school principal, Bonifatius Kurera Hausiku, in a telephonic interview with New Era.

Hausiku said they are planning to build temporary toilets as they wait for the ministry to construct a permanent solution; the teachers’ toilets (pit latrine) roof was blown away by the wind in November last year. 

When New Era visited the school on Tuesday at 12h00, it was empty, and the security officer, who was alone, confirmed the shutdown, highlighting that the dilapidated state of the toilets forced the administration to close the school to protect pupils. This sanitation crisis comes amidst wider reports of broken infrastructure at various rural and urban schools in the Kavango East region. 

The suspension of classes follows similar actions taken recently in the region, where dilapidated and non-functional ablution facilities have severely disrupted the school calendar.

New Era spoke to the director of education in Kavango East, Christine Shilima, who said that they have started with the procurement process to get a temporary solution.

“We convened a meeting on Tuesday, and we resolved that we would submit a letter to the works department so that they can go to the affected school, plus five other schools, which we also identified as in dire need of ablution facilities. The department of works will go and do an assessment and provide us with the bill of quantity, and we will prepare a request that will be given to the procurement committee, who will then pronounce themselves on what method to use to build the temporary toilets,’’ Shilima said.

“In the meantime I have officially requested the Mutwarantja school to use the amount of money that is available in their bank account to buy materials and get a contractor to build for a temporary flush toilet for teachers as well as pump the learners’ septic tanks so that learners and teachers can make use of such as a temporary or emergency measure,” she said.

-jmuyamba@nepc.com.na