Despite the opening of the new academic year this week, learners at some schools in the Zambezi Region are without accommodation pending the recruitment of hostel staff.

Zambezi Education Director Alex Sikume says there is a delay in the opening of four new hostels in the region.

These include hostels at Schuckmansburg, Ndoro, Liselo, and Masokotwani combined schools.

Each hostel has a capacity of over 300 learners.

"The interviews will be conducted in February 2025. Immediately when the interviews are conducted, we will do staff appointments, do training, and deploy those staff members to the hostel, so we are hopeful the hostel should open in the first semester."

Registration for four hostels will only be conducted once staff members have been appointed.

Sikume explained that the delayed opening of the hostels will not affect the learning process, as lodging learners will still make use of the community hostels funded by the government until the new hostels are open.

He also said although most of the hostels around the region have already opened and are fully functional, they still require new mattresses and beds, such as Caprivi Senior Secondary School.

"As a directorate, we ordered mattresses already last year. There was only a delay in delivery, and we ordered 800 mattresses, so we received a hundred mattresses in December, so 700 are still to be delivered. Hopefully, by next week, we will get that delivery, and Caprivi Senior Secondary School is one of the beneficiaries, and the other beneficiaries are the old hostel schools that existed."

The education director added that although many schools in the region require hostels, which the government may not be able to avail, the directorate has asked for the approval of seven community hostels that are currently financially operating on their own.

There are also plans to improve the existing facilities to better the learning and living environment.

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Juliet Sibeso