Nalotawa District School in the interior of Ba has received a targeted package of relief this month, with 40 mattresses and two water tanks delivered to ease chronic shortages in student accommodation and water supply. The assistance, announced as part of the Government’s REACH Program, is the tangible follow-up to a ministerial visit last year when school leaders raised concerns about the living conditions for boarding pupils.
The boarding school serves 91 children from seven villages in Yakete District and operates from early childhood education through to Year 8. Many pupils live on campus during the school term, making reliable water access and adequate bedding essential for daily life, health and learning. School officials and families had highlighted that lack of proper mattresses and intermittent water supply left students sleeping on overcrowded bedding and struggling with basic hygiene needs.
The delivery this month directly responds to those longstanding complaints. The package was provided after a visit last year by the Minister for Women, Children and Social Protection, Sashi Kiran, during which community members brought the issues to her attention. The REACH Program — which aims to bring government services and support to remote and vulnerable communities — has been the vehicle for converting that pledge into on-the-ground assistance.
While the arrival of 40 mattresses represents a significant improvement, the quantity is smaller than the total student roll of 91, meaning the supply will reduce pressure rather than fully resolve the bedding shortfall. The two new water tanks, meanwhile, are expected to bolster the school’s storage capacity and make water supply more reliable during term time, improvements that school staff hope will reduce health risks and ease the burden on caretakers.
The Nalotawa support comes amid wider national efforts to address deficiencies in school infrastructure, particularly in remote areas. In recent months the government and development partners have announced multi-million-dollar programs to upgrade classrooms, boarding houses and sanitation facilities across the country. Education-sector assessments and funding initiatives launched earlier this year signalled a broader push to make learning environments safer and more resilient to challenges such as overcrowding and weather-related damage.
For Nalotawa, the REACH delivery is the latest development in a community campaign to improve conditions that directly affect students’ wellbeing and ability to learn. School leaders said the assistance will be put into immediate use while they continue to press for further upgrades to fully meet the needs of the boarding population. The ministry’s continued rollout of REACH activities indicates similar short-term interventions may follow in other remote schools identified during recent outreach visits.
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