No solution in sight for ‘Smelly School’

PUPILS at the Mayuni Senior Secondary School in the Caprivi have been without water since October last year and the Ministry of Basic Education has asked for patience.

Some 196 hostel learners have to walk approximately six kilometres to the Kwando River every day to fetch water. They have also complained about the stench from the toilets and recently staged a stayaway in protest.The Mayuni School, 120 km west of Katima Mulilo, has an additional 100 learners attending day school.Anne Marie Melgaard, who works as an Environmental Education Co-ordinator for a project called Support Environmental Education in Namibia (SEEN) at the school, said the installations in the bathrooms and toilets needed running water and the school had been cut off for some time.She said the community had a pump at the river, which usually supplied it and the two schools in the area with reasonably sufficient water.However, the pump was broken and had not been fixed – partly because of a disagreement over who was to pay and who should provide the diesel and maintain the pump.”Learners and teachers demonstrated their misery by boycotting school for a period and the problem was brought to public attention,” she said.But a promise by the Ministry of Basic Education to solve the problem had come to nothing.The Katima Mulilo-based Deputy Director in the Ministry of Basic Education, Innocent Mahoto, said the Ministry was aware of the situation.He said the school was linked to the pump at the Kongola Bridge by the Department of Rural Water Supply but it had broken down and was still out of action.In November last year, Mahoto said “disaster” struck when the water tank set up at the school collapsed.He said they had made several efforts to normalise the situation at the school but co-operation from their counterparts at Rural Water Supply was not forthcoming.Mahoto said they had arranged trucks to provide water to the school but these were not reliable.”I am at their offices nearly every day but we have had no single supply. On Thursday, I will visit the school to see whether there is any development,” he added.Mahoto has already communicated these concerns to the head office of the Ministry of Basic Education in Windhoek.”But the problem is not likely to be solved this month. Therefore, we will try and improvise in the meantime and we can only appeal for patience from all stakeholders,” he said.Melgaard said talking about the water problem was ” … like hitting a wall”.”They will listen, they will promise to look into the matter and then one week, two weeks, three weeks down the line, nothing has happened. Going back to the Ministries and the people in charge just give you one more round of excuses and no action,” she said.In the meantime, school programmes are disrupted since learners and teachers disappear from the classrooms to use the surrounding bush as a toilet.”The health hazard is obvious. The learners cannot wash themselves properly and the kitchen cannot keep the hygienic standards required by a hostel kitchen. We are dealing with a time-bomb and the losers are the learners – the future of Namibia,” she said.She suggested that a new water tank be installed at the school and that the community pump be repaired because it was the most reliable support system.They have also complained about the stench from the toilets and recently staged a stayaway in protest. The Mayuni School, 120 km west of Katima Mulilo, has an additional 100 learners attending day school. Anne Marie Melgaard, who works as an Environmental Education Co-ordinator for a project called Support Environmental Education in Namibia (SEEN) at the school, said the installations in the bathrooms and toilets needed running water and the school had been cut off for some time. She said the community had a pump at the river, which usually supplied it and the two schools in the area with reasonably sufficient water. However, the pump was broken and had not been fixed – partly because of a disagreement over who was to pay and who should provide the diesel and maintain the pump. “Learners and teachers demonstrated their misery by boycotting school for a period and the problem was brought to public attention,” she said. But a promise by the Ministry of Basic Education to solve the problem had come to nothing. The Katima Mulilo-based Deputy Director in the Ministry of Basic Education, Innocent Mahoto, said the Ministry was aware of the situation. He said the school was linked to the pump at the Kongola Bridge by the Department of Rural Water Supply but it had broken down and was still out of action. In November last year, Mahoto said “disaster” struck when the water tank set up at the school collapsed. He said they had made several efforts to normalise the situation at the school but co-operation from their counterparts at Rural Water Supply was not forthcoming. Mahoto said they had arranged trucks to provide water to the school but these were not reliable. “I am at their offices nearly every day but we have had no single supply. On Thursday, I will visit the school to see whether there is any development,” he added. Mahoto has already communicated these concerns to the head office of the Ministry of Basic Education in Windhoek. “But the problem is not likely to be solved this month. Therefore, we will try and improvise in the meantime and we can only appeal for patience from all stakeholders,” he said. Melgaard said talking about the water problem was ” … like hitting a wall”. “They will listen, they will promise to look into the matter and then one week, two weeks, three weeks down the line, nothing has happened. Going back to the Ministries and the people in charge just give you one more round of excuses and no action,” she said. In the meantime, school programmes are disrupted since learners and teachers disappear from the classrooms to use the surrounding bush as a toilet. “The health hazard is obvious. The learners cannot wash themselves properly and the kitchen cannot keep the hygienic standards required by a hostel kitchen. We are dealing with a time-bomb and the losers are the learners – the future of Namibia,” she said. She suggested that a new water tank be installed at the school and that the community pump be repaired because it was the most reliable support system.