The Chavakali High School management has appealed to well-wishers to support it build more dormitories to supplement its overstretched boarding facilities.
Principal John Kuira told journalists that 480 Form 1 students have been admitted to the school, increasing the population to 2000.
Kuira said the current dormitories were built a long time ago and have aged.
“We need to do away with them and go for new structures for the assurance of the safety of learners in the institution,” he said.
The school does not have enough land for the expansion, Kuira said, and they will prefer story buildings to maximise the use of the space.
“With that, we can accommodate the huge population we have at the moment,” said Kuira.
He said the existing structures are in a filthy state that cannot be allowed to house students for long.
“This being a national school, there are some expectations that the incoming Form 1s have but in the current state, we will demoralise them,” the principal said.
Kuira said he had raised a complaint with the Ministry of Education that 480 is a huge number for the school to accommodate, but was ignored.
The principal said the school has been congested due to the nullification of 2018 exam results.
“This problem came up when we had the entire Form 4 cohort repeat the year. We came up with temporary structures to house them as they prepared to retake their national exams,” the principal said.
He was, however, thankful to former students of Chavakali who helped solve the water crisis in the school, especialy during the drought season.
