3.5 The school hostel and community centre Members visited the school hostel. Since Sutherland High School was the only high school in the district offering science as a subject, learners interested in taking science as a subject often had to travel long distances to attend school. The hostel offered accommodation to those learners, mainly children of farm workers, who study science at the school. The poor conditions at the hostels made it difficult to attract learners to the school, hence a refurbishment was necessary. The upgrades had been made through the efforts of the NRF.