Kunene needs more school hostels

More hostels are needed for schools in the Kunene region to make education accessible to learners in the region.
Schools mostly affected are those that used to operate as ‘mobile schools’ to cater for the nomadic nature of the population in the area.
At least 37 schools previously operating as mobile schools are now in dire need of hostel facilities to accommodate learners whose parents no longer lead a nomadic lifestyle.
This came to the fore during the visit of the Speaker of the National Assembly Peter Katjavivi to the Kunene region.
The National Assembly delegation spent three days in the Kunene region, arriving on Friday and leaving on Sunday.
During a community meeting at Okorosave village on Saturday, members of the community told Katjavivi that there is a need for more hostels in the region as learners have to walk long distances to attend school.
Inspector of Education for the Opuwo circuit, Chris Tjivikua supported the complaint by the community, saying most school in the region were designed to be mobile and now that people are no more nomadic, it is necessary to have hostels for learners.
Tjivikua also told the delegation led by the Speaker that the school feeding programme does not provide enough meals for learners, as it was designed to only provide one meal per day for day learners.
According to Tjivikua, there are some households which do not have enough food to eat and in most cases this is the reason why children are sent to school to have something to eat and not necessarily for education.
“Learners have to walk long distances to come to school and it is inconvenient and uncomfortable for us as teachers to allow them to walk for such long distance to come to school. This is why we resorted to keeping them at school and are requesting for our government to build hostels,” the principal of Okorosave Primary School, Kahevee Kavari told this agency.
Another concern raised during the meeting was the lack of accommodation for teachers in the region, as many teachers have reportedly given up space in their accommodation quarters for some learners to avoid having the learners travel long distances.
Katjavivi promised to take the concern to the relevant ministries.

NAMPA