75 000 hostel learners cost govt nearly N$1 bil to feed
The government is spending close to N$1 billion annually to feed about 75 000 learners accommodated in state-registered hostels, Education Minister Sanet Steenkamp has revealed, adding that it is the ministry’s major cost driver in terms of food provision.
Steenkamp said the learners, whom she referred to as “eaters”, consume three meals a day under government’s mandate to ensure their safety and wellbeing.
“75 000‘eaters,’ as we call them, are accommodated in government-registered hostels. I am not talking about community hostels. They eat three meals a day; that is the mandate and the cost driver,” she said during parliament last week.
She further clarified that the government is currently catering for 75 000 learners in hostels under the public system, with the food provision alone costing about N$867 million.
“It costs N$867 million, close to a billion, to feed them. What do we do? Is it equitable? Is it sustainable? Is it morally correct? Yes, it is,” Steenkamp said.
The minister defended the expenditure, stressing that the government's priority is to ensure that learners are safe and not left hungry while in hostels.
“We want children to be safe, we do not want children to be hungry, and we want them to be taken care of, not worrying about where their next meal will come from,” she said.
Steenkamp said these are critical policy debates the government must confront, especially as pressure mounts on the hostel system.
She said under the Accelerated Infrastructure Development Plan, hostels remain a priority area, alongside efforts to standardise school infrastructure.
“We need a blueprint so that we can replicate the same hostel design where feasible. We need a standardised school blueprint so that we do not construct one school for N$120 million and another for N$20 million,” she said.
At present, she said, the government is constructing 13 full schools, most of them including hostel facilities, as part of ongoing education infrastructure expansion.
Steenkamp acknowledged the growing demand for more hostel schools but stressed the need for balanced planning, including how learners are supported once placed in hostels.
“Is there a need for more hostel schools? Absolutely. But we also have to consider how we support learners once they are in hostels, whether learners with special needs or those in the mainstream system,” she said.
She added that the government has improved funding for research and innovation this year and pledged further improvements in the next financial cycle.
Five months, Namibian Sun reported that learners accommodated in hostels across northern Namibia are surviving on a meagre N$22 per day - an amount a parliamentary committee has described as grossly inadequate to meet their nutritional needs, especially in remote regions where food prices are higher.
The National Council's Standing Committee on Education, Science, ICT and Youth Development found that the rising cost of living has further strained the operations and maintenance of community hostels under the existing subsidy provided by the education ministry.
“The hostel subsidy, which remains unrevised at N$22 per learner per day for meals and related needs, is insufficient to meet nutritional requirements, particularly in remote areas where food prices are considerably higher,” the committee said in a report tabled in the National Council late last year.
The committee urged the ministry to review and adjust the N$22 daily subsidy, introduced in 2008, saying it no longer reflects the current cost of living.
“Hostels across all regions have expressed concern that the subsidy is inadequate, noting that a single loaf of bread costs about N$14. The committee further recommends that the maintenance allowance currently granted to private hostels be extended to community hostels to ensure proper upkeep and equitable support,” the report added.
