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In an interview with Mmegi, the Student Representative Council (SRC) president, Leonard Maswibilili said one of the problems is shortage of food. “On Monday, we did not have food completely and the catering company had to borrow rice from one of the senior schools. We decided not to take the food as it was plain rice without relish.” Though the food issue has been going on for sometime, the management has done little to rectify the situation. He said they once boycotted lunch and the principal promised to resolve the problems but nothing happened. On many occasions the catering company failed to provide basic commodities like milk, he said. “They always put the blame on suppliers and that does not solve anything.”
The SRC president said that the facilities at the institution are in a dilapidated state because they have not been renovated in a long time. “The hostel toilets are dilapidated and most of the students have to walk all the way from hostels to the academic blocks to use toilets.”
The drainage system too is not working properly. “We always hear messages encouraging us to save water, but here in the IHS water is dripping everywhere.”
Maswibilili said that the institution is faced with an acute shortage of books. “There are times when students would only receive first year materials when they are already on their second or even third years.” Another burning issue is that of allowances. Instead of being given P490, as it is the norm, students only received P290. “We were told that the allowance is only for January and February and that the remaining balance will be availed in April when the fiscal year begins.” Maswibilili said this explanation has baffled them as the situation only prevails in Gaborone IHS. “Other institutions have received full allowances and this leaves us wondering why the move applies to this institution only.” He was worried that since there was no written agreement, the institute might deny that they promised to pay the balance of students’ remaining allowances in April. “We did not put it in writing that we shall be given the remaining balance in April, what if they deny knowledge of the agreement?”
An IHS official who preferred anonymity acknowledged that they face a shortage of food. “The problem is now being addressed. Normally when the expenditure exceeds the allocated budget, we move finances from one vote to another so I think it took sometime for that to be carried out. That’s probably what contributed to the delay.” He said that shortage of books is a chronic and long-running problem at the IHS. “Even the principal is aware of it, and has always fought to bring things under control,” said the officer.
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