07 Mar 2022

Basic education ministry is currently piloting a redesign of an existing solar system at Mmadinare Senior Secondary School to see if it can be more resilient and cost effective.

Assistant minister, Ms Naniki Makwinja, said this in response to a parliamentary question recently.

She said the ministry was also looking into alternative designs of heating systems which could result in a move away from centralised heating systems in schools to usage of stand-alone units.

“My ministry will attend to schools on a case by case basis depending on the extent of the damage and the intervention best suited to ameliorate the situation. Mmadinare Senior Secondary School will also be attended to during the 2022/23 financial year,” she said.

Ms Makwinja acknowledged that there was a boiler at Mmadinare senior school, which had not been functional for a long time.

The boiler, she said, was part of the mechanical installations provided with a solar heating system for the kitchen and hostels. The solar system at the school has only functioned for a period of less than two years since commissioning.

She added that the solar heating systems had been bedevilled by problems including issues arising from dissolved salts in the water and vandalism.

She further explained that the ministry had not been able to refurbish all of the solar systems in schools, including that of Mmadinare school, due to the prohibitive cost of the repairs and replacement of vandalised solar collectors.

“The school currently heats water for learners in the winter months using firewood which is not sustainable,” she said.

Selebi Phikwe East MP, Mr Kgoberego Nkawana, had asked why the boiler at Mmadinare senior school had not been attended to given that it had never worked since construction.

Mr Nkawana also wanted to know if there was any interim plan to provide learners with warm water. ENDS