Isiolo school grapples with water shortage as over 200 pupils yet to report back

Isiolo school grapples with water shortage as over 200 pupils yet to report back

Over 200 pupils at Waso Primary School in Isiolo County are yet to report to school two days after resumption of learning, as the school grapples with challenges of lack of piped water for hand washing purposes.

According to the school Head Teacher Charles Githaiga, the institution now relies on a borehole that was sunk by a donor organization last year, but it lacks a solar powered pump therefore posing a risk of disease transmission to pupils who manually pump the water from the borehole in turns.

Githaiga said that the manual water pumping system could be a medium for the transmission of the coronavirus in case one of the pupils contracts it, since they handle the pump in turns, and appealed to well wishers who could donate a solar powered pump to help alleviate the risk by providing one to the institution.

He however noted that the school management was in touch with the Isiolo Water and Sewerage Company (IWASCO) who had made assurances that the water supply would be restored before schools were reopened but failed to honor their promise.

He also lamented over shortage of hand washing stations at the institution, with the school having only six such stations to serve a population of over 800 pupils and staff members.

Regarding the over 200 pupils who are yet to resume classes, Githaiga said that the school was in touch with the parents to find out why their children have not come back. According to the head teacher, some of the parents were complaining that they had no uniforms as the children had added weight fatter after the long stay at home, hence making it impossible to use the old uniforms.

He, however, advised parents that uniforms should not prevent any child from attending classes.

The school head further disclosed that the 70 desks given to the school by the Ministry of Education have also played a major role towards enabling the school to reduce congestion, adding that the new desks are now being used by the Class Eight candidates, while the old lockers that were used by the candidates have been distributed to the lower classes.

Githaiga appealed to well wishers who could help increase the number of hand washing stations to do so in order to ensure that the COVID-19 safety guidelines issued by the government are adhered to without major challenges.

Tags:

isiolo

Want to send us a story? Submit on Wananchi Reporting on the Citizen Digital App or Send an email to wananchi@royalmedia.co.ke or Send an SMS to 25170 or WhatsApp on 0743570000

Leave a Comment

Comments

No comments yet.

latest stories