The writing of examinations across Swaziland / eSwatini
is under threat because the government has not handed over grants to schools
and they cannot pay for simple supplies such as paper. Electricity has been cut
because of unpaid bills. There is also a long-running shortages of teachers.
Teachers and school principals marched on the Ministry
of Education and Training and Cabinet offices to deliver a petition calling for
funding to be paid.
The Swaziland Association of Schools Administrators
(SASA), the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) with the
Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) and National Public Services and
Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU) took part on Thursday (18 July 2019).
SASA’s Chairperson Samkelo Dlamini said government had
not paid money to schools and there were no resources to run them. The Swazi Observer
reported, ‘He said the Examination Council had released the examination
timetable and pupils were expected to go for exams, yet there are no teachers
or teaching material. “We wish to put it on record that, your failure to
finance education at primary school level and paying for those learners who are
orphaned and vulnerable at high schools have rendered the schools becoming day
care centres as opposed to institutions that should offer formal education,”
Dlamini said.’
Public services across
Swaziland, where King Mswati III rules as an absolute monarch,
are in meltdown. The
Swazi Government, which is not elected but handpicked by the King is broke and
owes suppliers about E3 billion (US$215 million).
More than
six in ten schools in Swaziland do not have enough teachers because of
government financial cutbacks, the Eswatini
Principals Association (EPA) President Welcome Mhlanga has said.
See also
Swaziland children forced to work as groundsmen as
Govt delays funding their school
Chaos
and confusion across Swaziland as new school year starts
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