Why we need hostels

Hostels reduce the vulnerability of girls away from home whilst attending secondary schools. Girls are shield from gender violence and less distracted by teenage concerns. They do not have to worry about providing for themselves and can share in educational resources, such as books, peer reviews and homework time.

Hostels encourage a higher proportion of girls to take up and keep up with their education and therefore help bridge the gender gap. Development agendas today are envisioned as having sustainable well-being gender balanced communities. The general hypothesis is that educating a girl equals educating the entire community and beyond.  

BACKGROUND TO THE ILONGERO HOSTEL 

Location:  Singida region of East Tanzania -  Ilongero division

Whilst they are 15 primary schools in the division of Ilongero, there is only 1 secondary school. The majority of girls live too far away from the school to be able to attend it as a day school. There are no facilities for boarding and only the most dedicated or well off will rent accommodation close to the school.

Gloria Nkungu visited some of these dwellings and wrote the following report.

Highly congested rooms:  The single bedrooms accommodate 3 to 4 girls although they are furnished with only one single bed. There are no table or chairs for studying. The complex of 15 rooms, a few with a double bed and a single bed for 9 occupants all share one roofless washroom and one pit latrine. These inadequate sanitation facilities were at the time shared by 55 people, some of them adults.

            Mixed accommodation: These rooms are available to rent by all sectors of the population. This medley of people with different purposes is not conducive to studying. Disturbances due to drunken behaviour in particular are regularly encountered.

            Rape and sexual diseases:  There have been 3 rapes by one landlord who deservingly is now serving a 64 years sentence. Whilst these are rare occurrences, early sexual activities are more common and have led to pregnancies, abortions and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS.

            Study time:  Much time is wasted in cooking food, fetching water, finding firewood and laundry. Girls do not have enough spare time for private studies/homework and lack concentration because of tiredness.

            Lack of electricity:  Most rooms have no electricity. Girls who have electricity in their room cannot usually afford to pay for it. Twilight is at about 6.30pm all year around in Tanzania and therefore little or no study can be done in the evening.

Behavioural problems:  Lacking parental guidance and support, girls can be led astray. They generally lack discipline, a problem compounded by lack of privacy, facilities and money. It would be hard for any adult to keep motivated whilst away from the family and having to care for oneself and study, let alone a young adolescent.

            Long term problems:  Many girls never stay the course. The average performance is poor. Pregnant girls are expelled from the school, some have committed suicide in desperation and others have had to marry early.

            Some statistics:  Ever year about 40 girls are admitted to the school for a standard four years. Hereafter are the numbers in () who completed their studies.

1997 (21) – 1998 (13)  -  1999 (15)  -  2000 (18)  -  2001 (21)  -  2002 (20)  -  2003 (36)  -  2004 (30).  The positive trend is actually due to more girls starting in the more recent years.

Following on her visit and an initial consultation with some villagers, Gloria Nkungu visited the school and met up with the School Administration, School Board and Division Administrators. As a result, the school donated a section of the school grounds for the building of a hostel to accommodate 60 girls. The school will also provide water, cover up to 80% of the electricity costs and contribute to the maintenance of the building as well as safeguard it. It will also report on the impact this project has had on the school performance and attendance of the girls.