Nalotawa District School in the highlands of Ba has received an immediate boost to student welfare after the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Protection delivered forty new mattresses and two water tanks on the same day the donation was announced. The aid arrives after school leaders raised urgent needs during a visit by the Ministry last year.
The remote primary school, located nearly an hour from the main highway, accommodates 49 boarding students from kindergarten through Year 8. School Manager Alipate Tuinuku said the new mattresses replace bedding that had been in use for about 15 years, and will significantly improve the comfort and hygiene of boarders who live on campus during school terms.
Tuinuku emphasised the importance of the water tanks for daily operations, noting the school has long struggled with an unreliable water supply. “We usually face challenges with the water system. Now we can use the tank for rainwater harvesting, and it will also be connected to a boat as another water source,” he said, adding that the tanks will help provide water for the children during school hours, especially during the rainy season. School staff had been managing with limited storage and unpredictable deliveries, making routine tasks and caring for the boarders more difficult.
The delivery was made by the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Protection after Nalotawa’s needs were raised during the ministerial visit last year, according to school management. The handover underscores a targeted response to immediate welfare needs in remote education settings, addressing both living conditions and basic infrastructure that affect student health and attendance.
School management expressed gratitude to the Ministry for the prompt response. The mattresses are expected to reduce health risks associated with prolonged use of worn bedding, and the tanks will broaden the school’s capacity to capture and store rainwater — a key resilience measure for rural schools that face fluctuating access to town-supplied water or rain-dependent sources.
This development follows wider patterns of support to remote schools and communities in recent months, as government and development partners have stepped up efforts to provide supplies, water storage, and hygiene-related facilities in rural areas. For Nalotawa, the new items represent an immediate, tangible improvement for nearly 50 children and the staff who care for them, addressing needs that had persisted for more than a decade in the case of the mattresses.
Leave a comment