Since March, the Ministry of Education has provided access to water and sanitation in numerous schools through COVID-19 emergency funding. According to the ministry, the pandemic is said to have significantly accelerated the long-planned process.
Due to the emergency funding of 600 million Namibia dollars, which was allocated to the education sector in the budget for the current financial year 2020/21, the Ministry of Education was able to install or renovate sanitary facilities in numerous schools and give them access to water. According to the Treasury Department, 38.2 percent of the funds have already been used by half of the period, with a further acceleration in use expected in the second half. The State Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Sanet Steenkamp, confirmed that “although there are still many infrastructural challenges in the education sector”, the urgency of the pandemic and the funds made available as a result are solving urgent problems “at an unprecedented pace”.
Due to the control of funds by the procurement committees of the regional councils, the insufficient water supply had been addressed in 226 schools by September. 242 schools have also been selected for the renovation of their sanitary facilities and 301 schools for the installation of new toilets. “To ensure fair distribution, the emergency fund is coordinated by a national planning committee to which several ministries and other state institutions belong,” said the State Secretary.
The latest available data from the Education Management Information System (EMIS) regarding sanitary facilities and access to water in schools from 2019 shows that: “Approximately 18 percent (346) of Namibian schools have no electricity, 13 percent (250) have no sanitation and 11 percent over (211) no drinking water. ”Steenkamp stated that the next survey will be carried out later this year as part of the ministry’s annual survey to determine the needs of schools.
“Not all schools are located in areas where a water connection or flush toilet can be installed,” said the press spokesman for the Ministry of Education, Absalom Absalom, this week. “In such cases, the water is now delivered in other ways and outhouses are installed,” says Absalom. COVID-19 has “accelerated” the ministry’s goal to ensure that all schools are equipped with basic infrastructure.
Absalom also stressed that improved access to water and sanitation in schools was an ongoing activity. According to the ministry, a corresponding project (Community-Led School Sanitation, CLSS) was started in 2017 to end open defecation in schools and communities and to improve water supply, sanitation and hygiene standards through a communal approach.
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