75 000 hostel learners cost govt nearly N$1b to feed

Government spends about N$867 million a year feeding 75 000 learners in state-run hostels, education minister Sanet Steenkamp has said.

Steenkamp said the learners receive three meals a day under a government mandate to ensure their safety and wellbeing.

“Seventy-five thousand 'eaters', as we call them, are accommodated in government-registered hostels. I am not talking about community hostels. They eat three meals a day; that is the mandate and the cost driver,” she said in parliament last week.

“It costs N$867 million, close to a billion, to feed them. What do we do? Is it equitable? Is it sustainable? Is it morally correct? Yes, it is,” Steenkamp said.

The minister defended the expenditure, saying the government’s priority is to ensure learners are safe and not left hungry while staying in hostels.

“We want children to be safe, we do not want children to be hungry, and we want them to be taken care of, not worrying about where their next meal will come from,” Steenkamp underlined.

Development goals

She said these are critical policy debates government must confront, especially as pressure mounts on the hostel system.

She said under the accelerated infrastructure development plan, hostels remain a priority area, alongside efforts to standardise school infrastructure.

“We need a blueprint so that we can replicate the same hostel design where feasible. We need a standardised school blueprint so that we do not construct one school for N$120 million and another for N$20 million,” she explained.

At present, government is constructing 13 full schools, most of them including hostel facilities, as part of ongoing education infrastructure expansion.

Steenkamp acknowledged the growing demand for more hostels.

“Is there a need for more hostel schools? Absolutely. But we also have to consider how we support learners once they are in hostels, whether learners with special needs or those in the mainstream system,” she said.

She added that the government has improved funding for research and innovation this year and pledged further improvements in the next financial cycle.

Increasing price pressures

Last year, Namibian Sun reported that learners accommodated in hostels across northern Namibia are surviving on a meagre N$22 per day – an amount a parliamentary committee has described as grossly inadequate to meet their nutritional needs, especially in remote regions where food prices are higher.

The National Council's standing committee on education, science, ICT and youth development found that the rising cost of living has further strained the operations and maintenance of community hostels under the existing subsidy provided by the education ministry.

“The hostel subsidy, which remains unrevised at N$22 per learner per day for meals and related needs, is insufficient to meet nutritional requirements, particularly in remote areas where food prices are considerably higher,” the committee found.

The committee urged the ministry to review and adjust the N$22 daily subsidy, introduced in 2008, saying it no longer reflects the current cost of living.

“Hostels across all regions have expressed concern that the subsidy is inadequate, noting that a single loaf of bread costs about N$14," the report stated.

The committee further recommended that the maintenance allowance currently granted to private hostels be extended to community hostels to ensure proper upkeep and equitable support.

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