Swaziland’s Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini has misled us
by claiming that the kingdom’s ‘education standard ranks high in the world’.
He also claimed in a government press statement that the
standard of education in the kingdom, ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s
last absolute monarch, ‘has always been outstanding’.
He was reacting to news that a Swazi team of children had
come second in the World Schools Debate Championships.
But, everything Prime Minister Dlamini said was not true.
In fact, the standard of education in Swaziland is so poor the kingdom is not
able even to meet its own employment targets.
A report called The Education System in Swaziland, written
by Mmantsetsa Marope and published by the World Bank in 2010, demonstrated that
what is called ‘the education, training and skills development sector (ETSDS)’
(that is preschool, schools, colleges and universities) was inadequate to
supply people capable of working in a modern economy, especially where skills
in technology and innovation were needed.
‘The current ETSDS is not sufficient to support national development
aspirations and goals, accelerated and shared growth, and global
competitiveness,’ the report stated.
Among the key weaknesses in the education sector are low attendance
at schools and colleges, inequalities of access and inefficient use of
resources.
The report went on, ‘Access is limited across all levels
of the ETSDS. Current levels of access are inadequate to supply the right threshold
and mix of skills required to meet national and regional labor market demands, to
support accelerated and shared growth, and to make Swaziland globally competitive.
Access is particularly low from the secondary level upwards, the very levels which
are proven to be essential for the supply of knowledge workers required to attract
foreign direct investors (FDIs).’
The report states , ‘An estimated 74 percent of children of eligible age are
not enrolled in junior secondary education, and 88 percent are not enrolled
in senior secondary education.’
It adds, ‘The situation is somewhat better for the primary
level where only 16 percent of children of eligible age are not enrolled.’
See also
ILLEGAL SWAZILAND PM CRACKS DOWN
SWAZI P.M. EXPOSED ON TERROR ACT
SWAZI PM: I CONTROL THE MEDIA
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