A command made by Swaziland’s autocratic King Mswati
III that schools must not charge parents top-up fees is about to be overturned
following years of confusion.
And, Swazi Government ministers and the media in the kingdom
are rewriting history to erase the King’s part in the chaos.
In February 2014, in a speech opening Parliament King
Mswati, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, made
the directive to abolish top-up fees even though the government he
hand-picked did not have a plan to implement it.
In Swaziland, the King’s word is a proclamation. Once
he speaks nobody is allowed to question him.
In his 2014
speech the King said, ‘We must encourage the
development of local facilities and the improvement of the quality of our
education to match the standards of foreign countries. It is not enough,
however, to just educate our children to become job seekers.’
Top-up fees allowed principals to charge parents more
than the basic school fee. This allowed schools to be able to fund many basic
activities. Principals
complained that the money paid by government was too meagre to run the schools and
a majority of them opted for top-up fees to make up for the shortage.
Within months reports were circulating in the kingdom that
most schools had been forced to suspend activities including participation in
sports and music competitions. It was estimated these extra-mural activities
had halved when compared to recent years.
The Swazi
Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by the King, reported
in 2015 that some principals had resorted to selling sweets on behalf of their
schools to raise additional funds.
It reported, ‘Swaziland Principals Association (SWAPA)
President Mduduzi Bhembe confirmed the sad situation and lamented the fact that
the growth of the country’s education system was taking a nosedive.’
In February 2016, school principals who defied the ban
were warned they could
go to jail. The Swazi Education and Training
Minister Phineas Magagula said this after the Kingdom’s High Court confirmed
the King’s edict that no school should charge parents top-up fees.
The
Swazi Observer reported at the time that Magagula
said by charging top-up fees the principals were, ‘failing to comply with His
Majesty King Mswati III’s order that such should not be paid and that no child
should be deprived of education’.
Now, media in Swaziland are reporting that the Swazi
Cabinet has decided to put forward a law to allow to-up fees to be charged.
The Times of Swaziland, the only
independent daily newspaper in the kingdom, reported on Friday (17 February
2017), ‘Stakeholders are searching for answers to the question of how to charge
top-up fees yet they (top-up fees) are legal in terms of Section 12 of the Free
Primary Education Act of 2010.’
It added, ‘Phineas Magagula, the Minister of Education and Training, had
submitted a proposal to cabinet to reintroduce the additional fees which
schools charged over and above government grants.’
The King’s role in the top-up fee saga is being ignored. On 29 December
2016, the Swazi Observer, a newspaper
described by the Media Institute of Southern Africa in a report on press
freedom in Swaziland as a
‘pure propaganda machine for the royal family’,
reported Magagula had submitted a proposal to cabinet to reintroduce the top-up
fees.
It reported, ‘Education Minister Dr. Phineas Magagula yesterday said the
decision to enforce a no top-up fee policy was not taken by an individual line
minister, in this particular case being himself, but was a collective cabinet
decision.
‘Any changes with regard to the implementation of the policy, Dr.
Magagula said, would as such have to be taken by cabinet.’
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