�Thirst for learning� turns too real

Baboki Kayawe | Friday September 4, 2015 14:27

 

Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, Kitso Mokaila uttered these words yesterday in his first public briefing as the maelstrom around recent water shortages in the country’s south darkened.

Public schools are open in the face of this heightened crisis and learners’ ‘thirst for learning’ has literally been surpassed by the real thirst for water as classes continue to be interrupted by the water scarcity.

The cuts have hit most schools hard because while there are provisions for water storage in schools, even these prove inadequate as the scarcity drags on.

This week, a teacher in one of Gaborone’s secondary schools, who spoke in condition of anonymity, said the situation was bad for learners, as storage water, in most cases, did not cater for the ablution facilities.

“It is a sad state.  We have two reservoirs, one for the kitchen and the other for staff to use, but honestly I am wondering how students are coping in terms of using the ablutions because these rely on water,” she said.

“If they just keep using the ablutions in these conditions, their health is at stake.  I can’t even imagine what the cleaners have to deal with.”

The fact that teachers have to frequently excuse themselves to use bathrooms with running water, as well means that teaching is disturbed. In instances where teachers reside far from the school, this translates into the exhaustion of teaching. Incidents of latecoming by both teachers and students are also reportedly on the rise, as the early morning water cuts force people to be creative around baths.

“The situation has greatly inconvenienced the education system. We don’t know what will happen if it goes on,” the teacher said.

For devastated parent, Gontle Iketseng, who resides in Gaphatshwa, the situation in the area has been so bad that she packs two litres of water for her pre-school-going children everyday.

“The biggest worry is how they use water system toilets under such conditions. This is a serious threat to our children’s health,” she said.

“The school has a Jojo tank, but that is far from enough to ensure that ablutions are kept in a clean and hygienic state.”

She added that she has since resorted to limiting the number of times she gives her children baths as a water preservation strategy.  She also makes them share baths and sometimes even skip school when days get really tough.

Early this year, a University of Botswana researcher based at the Okavango Research Institute, Professor Barbara Ngwenya published what could relieve the woefully inadequate ablution facilities in Botswana’s public education institutions, which, when coupled with water shortages, present an ugly sight.

Her experimental work with ‘dry-sanitation’ a human waste collection system, promises not only to get rid of the waste, but to also put it to good use.

A pilot for the project is underway in Ngamiland district.

Ngwenya explained that under waterless sanitation, not a drop of water is used in toilets. The ‘dry sanitation’ system does not require treatment or transportation of human excreta.

The researcher’s studies were preceded by a situation analysis in 2011, of the state of water and sanitation in 21 primary schools in Ngamiland region.

Ngwenya hopes the Ministry of Education will take a cue from her groundbreaking work.

”It is really a question of resources and technologies to address the issue,” she said at the time.