Schoolchildren in Swaziland
/eSwatini are being taught under trees or in tents instead of classrooms
because the government is broke and cannot afford new buildings.
Some schools are relying on
the Red Cross to supply tents, the Times
of Swaziland
reported on Monday (13 May 2019).
It reported, ‘This is as a result
of the lack of classrooms, which are supposed to be constructed through the
Ministry of Education and Training.’
Lubombo Regional Education
Officer (REO) Musa Mthupha told the Times
the government faced ‘financial challenges’ and some building projects had been
put on hold.
‘He said there was a
building programme in place, which did not see the light of day due to the
country’s economic turndown,’ the newspaper reported.
News of the lack of funding
comes after the Ministry of Education and Training paid more than E40 million to cover the cost of sending police and prison
wardens into schools to invigilate examinations at the end of 2018 while teachers were in dispute.
Public services of all kinds
in Swaziland are in meltdown because of years of financial mismanagement by
governments which are handpicked by King Mswati III, who rules Swaziland as an
absolute monarch.
At the start of the school
year in January 2019 schools across the kingdom remained closed because the
government could not fund the free primary education programme. Government is
required under the Swazi Constitution to provide free places for all primary
school children. It pays E560 per pupil. In Swaziland, seven in ten people have
incomes of about E25 per day.
The funding crisis is not new. In June 2018
headteachers and principals told the Swazi
Observer they
were in huge debt and unable to pay suppliers. Many schools were without electricity.
There were also reports
that schools did not receive much needed materials such as stationery because
suppliers had not been paid. At primary school each child needs at least 14
exercise books and seven text books. One
supplier located in Manzini
told the Times of Swaziland his
company was owed E300,000.
In the past two years
children who relied on government food aid – known as the zondle
programme –
had gone hungry when bills were left unpaid.
See also
Chaos and confusion across Swaziland as new school
year starts
Children
at risk of food poisoning as Swaziland Govt’s financial crisis continues
Lavish
spending leads to food aid cut
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