Learners at Katjinakatji Secondary School who walk more than 10 kilometres to and from school have to wait another year before the school hostel is completed.

The construction of the hostel has been on hold since last year.

The Kavango West Regional Council appointed two contractors to construct the boys' and girls' hostels last year.

The contracts were awarded in March last year, and the hostels were expected to be completed in April this year.

Mpasi Haingura, who was the Chief Regional Officer for the Kavango West Region at the time, informed nbc News that the council's staff members gave the instructions to the contractors without following the procurement process of issuing a variation order.

Haingura attributed the delay to the omission of the supervisor's rooms in the initial drawings.

He said the two contractors were only given verbal instructions for the rooms, one at each hostel block.

The contractors invoiced the council for additional work as a result, which Haingura refused to approve before getting the reports from all those who were involved in the unauthorised transaction.

He said an internal disciplinary process would be instituted against such staff members.

Learners who stay far from the school, Mpasi said, are accommodated at houses where they pay N$350 per month.

The School Board Chairperson, Hamutenya Hamutenya, is pleading with the Council to resolve the matter without delay.

"We have learners that walk for 10 to 15 km to school; these learners thought they were going to be in the hostel by now, but because the hostel is incomplete, the learners are forced to stay in houses of strangers, and they are being asked to pay per month for this. This money the parents cannot afford either way, even if the parents can afford it, these are children, and they are not in good care. You get some that go clubbing freely because they are on their own and they can do whatever they want."

The school accommodates more than 900 learners, as opposed to the 336 capacity.
 
The contractors are expected to return to the site once they receive notification from the council.