By Eliaser Ndeyanale
WHILE Government is planning to build a new Parliament building at a tune of N$2.2 billion, pupils from 41 primary schools in the Kavango west region have inadequate classroom blocks, as they are learning under trees and tents.
According to the Kavango West regional council report that was tabled in the National Council last week by Mankumpi constituency councillor Muha Sinimbo, the schools do not have enough classrooms, a situation that has forced schools’ managements to turn trees into classrooms and makeshift structures to cater for a fast growing population in the north eastern poverty stricken region.
The region is also experiencing a high level of school dropouts, teenage pregnancies and HIV/AIDS pandemic.
“Learners and teachers travel long distances to their nearest schools and many schools do not have basic facilities like safe drinking water, electricity and sanitation,” Sinimbo told the House.
The pupils who often also walk long distances face severe hardships and risk being killed by wild animals as Sinimbo told the country’s upper house that the region is currently experiencing a huge number of elephants that are posing a threat to the inhabitants and their livelihood.
“The elephants are on the rampage destroying homesteads and crop fields of the communities,” he stated.
The majority of the schools in such dire circumstances are in the Katjinakatji circuit which has 10 schools, followed by Nzinze circuit with nine, Mpungu circuit with seven, Kandjimi with four, Bunya has three, Ncamagoro with two and Ncuncuni circuit with one.
The Government has poured money into education whose spending jumped from N$10.7 billion in 2014/15 to N$12, 3 billion in 2015/16.
However, it seems that the large sums have not filtered through the nation’s poorest region, 26 years after the country’s first all-race elections.
Puzzling, however, is that the Ministry of Education, despite the shortage of classrooms across the country failed to utilise money allocated to it resulting in the money going back to the State coffers.
It is not clear whether the schools have enough textbooks, chairs, tables and other stationery as director of education Mathew Nauyoma only said that the region was busy preparing a report to the ministry.
Kavango west region was among the poorest performers in last year’s Grade 10 and 12 examination results.
Responding to detailed questions regarding the situation in the region, Education Ministry’s Johanna Absalom confirmed the matter saying that to address the shortage of classrooms, every year the Ministry makes budgetary allocation for construction of new classrooms to address the shortage in the region.
“During the 2015/16 financial year, the Kavango region was allocated N$32 930 000 under BEF (Basic Education Facilities). It is the third highest allocation after Omusati (N$35 621 00) and Ohangwena region (N$40 615 000).
“For the 2016/17, the Kavango West region was allocated N$ 12 509 000 and Kavango East was allocated N$8 340 000,” she said.
She further added that while the ministry is the largest recipient of the national budget (25 percent goes to the payment of staff) expenditure makes up the biggest chunk of the total allocated budget to the ministry, impacting negatively on the implementation of ministerial capital projects.
“The ministry has over the past years battled with insufficient funds to meet the implementation of its capital projects in terms of physical facilities for education.
“While 2015/16 financial year indicates an appropriation of N$11, 4 billion to the education ministry, only five percent of this budget was apportioned to capital projects, while the bulk thereof (95 percent) was allocated to operational activities, with staff remuneration and benefits taking about 72 percent of the budget. Despite the MoEAC receiving 19 percent of the national budget, funds availed for the implementation of its capital projects remain insufficient.”
According to Absalom, the ministry has a huge backlog of infrastructure, thus more funds would still be needed to renovate, construct new classrooms, schools, hostels and other infrastructure such as teacher houses amongst others; hence, the call for support from the stakeholders in education
The Kavango West region would require 123 new classrooms at existing schools to address classroom shortage.
On sanitation Absalom said currently, the Kavango Regional Directorate is annually constructing sanitation facilities at schools depending on availability of funds allocated to the region. In the last financial year (2015/16), sanitation facilities were constructed at four schools in Kavango West.
“There is a backlog in the provision of sanitation facilities in the region, due to the fact that in the past (before independence) sanitation facilities were not provided at most rural schools,” she said.