Construction of vital school housing
- Target Amount:
- £19,000
- Amount Raised:
- £64
- Closing Date:
- April 01, 2008
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Mwense High School is one of only two schools in Mwense District offering high school education. It was opened in 1966 and offered education only to boys. In line with the new government of the republic of Zambiaís policy of dropping all forms of discrimination against the girl child and all females, the school opened its doors to the first female pupils in 2005. These numbered only 12. oday, the school has only 60 female learners from Grade 10 to 12 against 709 boys. The difference between the female and male learners is a staggering 649.
Mwense District has a pupil population at the basic school level of 24,903 and 12,560 are females. However, the number of girls in chool rapidly drops the higher you progress: in Grade 8, there are only 389 girls attending classes in the entire District as opposed to 696 boys, and in Grade 9 there are 323 girls in school compared to 507 boys.
One may ask what the reason is for this paltry enrolment figure for females against males. The answer is easy to figure out. Mwense High School has a catchment area of about 130 square kms, covering 56 basic schools encompassing the plateau area, whose peopleís main occupation is subsistence farming, and the area along the Luapula Valley, whose peopleís main occupation is fishing. As a result of such a large catchment area, some of the children come from as far away as villages located on the periphery of the Mwense district, approximately 130 kms away from the high school.
For boys, the school offers boarding facilities serving those from far flung places. However, the same is not true for the female learners. Consequently, they either have to have their parents nearby or are forced to find small huts near the school which they can rent at a fee, upon qualifying to go to Grade 10. The consequence of such children living on their own makes them extremely vulnerable to abuse and greatly increases their risk of contracting HIV. It is for these reasons that the school administration has decided to appeal for help to construct a dormitory and an ablution block for girls from distant places to reduce the dangers that these children face everyday in their quest for quality education. We make an appeal to all world citizens to come to the aid of these children whose only desire is to have a decent education to enable them to contribute to the Zambian economy and leadership effectively.
Scope of Work: The school administration will construct one dormitory block that can accommodate 100 girls and construct one ablution block with 40 toilets and 30 showers and a laundry area.
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