Marythar Kambinda
KATIMA MULILO – Pupils from four rural schools in the Zambezi region, who had to stay in makeshift tents on school grounds, now have decent structures to accommodate them.
Hostel dormitories were constructed at Ibbu, Lusese, Sachona and Shesheke to replace tents. The facilities were officially handed over last week.
Speaking at the event, Kabbe North constituency councillor Bernard Sisamu highlighted how the past few months had not been easy for the country because of the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused devastation in various institutions of government, including education and the private sector.
“It is through the government intervention, that the initiative to build accommodation for learners came about. Today, we stand to celebrate the achievements amidst the storm,” he said.
Sisamu further thanked the government through the directorate of education on behalf of the community of Zambezi region for the plausible effort.
“We will take ownership of the buildings and pledge to take care of them through comprehensive maintenance,” stated Sisamu.
Deputy minister of education Faustina Caley said the mandate of the ministry is to provide quality inclusive education, which is built on the pillars of access, equity and inclusiveness.
In 2020, the government of Namibia through the National Planning Commission provided N$800 million towards the Covid-19 infrastructure development programme, which was implemented in all 14 regions.
Caley stated over the years, government has made a huge success with regard to equal access to education by all Namibian children without any discrimination.
She further added the challenge that remains to be addressed is the huge backlog of school infrastructure, which includes classrooms, libraries, laboratories, hostel accommodation for learners and teachers’ accommodation.
“The following interventions were identified to be implemented at schools, which include construction and renovation of ablution facilities, construction and renovation of hostel accommodation and provision of potable water at schools in all regions,” she said.
The deputy minister further stated that the construction of hostel accommodation was triggered by the fact that many learners are faced with dire needs of accommodation which has resulted in a growing number of learners squatting in unsafe and unhygienic establishments around school premises.
This is due to long distances that they have to travel daily to be able to attend school.
“Under these conditions, learners are exposed to high risks of diseases, sexual exploitation, teenage pregnancies and substance abuse as parental supervision is non-existent. The construction of new hostels is aimed at alleviating the plight of these learners,” she stated.
We expect to see immediate impacts of the newly constructed hostel facilities in terms of improved living conditions of learners and better performance, she added.
The deputy minister, however, expressed disappointment with incidents of vandalism reported at many government schools.
“To the learners, remember that it is good to be a child today, but take into account that tomorrow you will be the parent enrolling your children into these hostels. So, your actions towards these hostels should take into account your children to utilise these facilities in future,” she said.