SWAZI GOVT SUED OVER SCHOOL BEATING

The Swaziland Government is being sued for E2.5 million (US$185,000) after a child was maimed by a teacher who was dishing out corporal punishment.

It comes after a series of cases of excessive and illegal beatings have been reported in the kingdom.

Former Principal Secretary at the Ministry of Education and Training Pat Muir told a workshop that the parents of the child in Northern Hhohho was suing the Ministry of Education and Training. The Swazi Observer newspaper reported on Wednesday (11 October 2017) he said, ‘Today, I am reminded of a parent in Northern Hhohho who is currently suing government under the ministry of education and training about E2.5 million. This is because the teacher punished and maimed a child.’

The newspaper said, ‘He added that the Ministry of Education and Training has a number of cases in all regions of the country where teachers have been accused of assaulting pupils under the banner of corporal punishment. 

Muir was speaking at a workshop on ‘positive discipline’ designed to sensitise ministry officials on alternatives to corporal punishment which was banned in Swaziland schools in 2015.

He did not give details of the cases but there are a number on public record. As recently as September 2017 it was reported that an 11-year-old boy from Ekuphakameni Community Primary School in the outskirts of Hlatikhulu lost an eye when a cane his schoolteacher was using to illegally beat other pupils broke and splintered. 

In 2011, a 10-year-old girl at kaLanga Nazarene Primary school was blinded for life in her left eye after a splinter from a teacher’s stick flew and struck it during punishment. She was injured when her teacher was hitting another pupil, with a stick which broke.  

Another pupil in Swaziland was thrashed so hard that he later collapsed unconscious and had to be rushed to a clinic. Six pupils at Mafucula High school were thrashed with 20 strokes of a ‘small log’ because they were singing in class. It was reported that the boy who became unconscious was not one of those misbehaving, but he was flogged nonetheless. 

In September 2015, the Times of Swaziland reported a 17-year-old school pupil died after allegedly being beaten at school. The pupil reportedly had a seizure.

In March 2015, a primary school teacher at the Florence Christian Academy was charged with causing grievous bodily harm after allegedly giving 200 strokes of the cane to a 12-year-old pupil on her buttocks and all over her body.

In 2011, it was reported girls at Mpofu High School were being flogged by teachers on their bare flesh and if they resisted they were chained down so the beating could continue. They were said to have been given up to 40 strokes at a time. The Swazi Observer newspaper reported at the time the children said ‘that when they are beaten, they are made to strip naked on the lower body so that the teachers can beat them on bare flesh’.

One girl told the newspaper, ‘The teachers make us lie on a bench whereby if you are a girl you lift your skirt so that they can beat you on bare flesh, if you resist you are chained to the bench.’

Muir told the workshop which was hosted by the Save the Children Swaziland at the Pigg’s Peak Hotel the ministry was working towards eradicating all violence at schools, as well as addressing the negative impact that corporal punishment had on children, who started to hate school. 

He said, ‘As a ministry, we have noted that corporal punishment acts as a barrier that keeps children away from school, and our job is to remove that problem in order to achieve the targeted 100 per cent child education goal. Currently, we are training educational officers on positive disciple, unfortunately we still have many of our officers who are not well versed about positive discipline because they are strong believers in the proverbial saying, “spare the rod spoil the child”, but during teacher preparation in teaching college, the ministry of education and training never taught a teacher how to beat children.’

See also

CHILDREN FEAR BEATINGS, MISS SCHOOL

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/children-fear-beatings-miss-school.html

CANE BANNED IN SWAZI SCHOOLS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2015/10/beating-banned-in-swazi-school.html

TEACHERS BEAT BOYS ON NAKED BUTTOCKS

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/teachers-beat-boys-on-naked-buttocks.html

SCHOOLS RELIGIOUS TEACHING SHAKE-UP

Just as people in Swaziland are increasingly turning against Muslims, the Swazi Ministry of Education has said from Tuesday (24 January 2017) the only religion to be taught in public schools would be Christianity.

Until now, the Religious Education syllabus included Christianity, Islam, Baha’i faith and Swazi ancestors. The decision reportedly came from the Swazi Cabinet, which is handpicked by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

Also, all pupils will be obliged to take Religious Education throughout their time at primary and high school.

The Times of Swaziland reported on Thursday (19 January 2017) that Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Pat Muir, said government was targeting the ability for school children to differentiate between morality and immorality and also to ensure that children were not confused. 

The Times reported, ‘He said they believed Christianity was the best way to achieve this.’

It quoted Muir saying, ‘When they reach university or go to college, they will then be able to make a decision on whether they want to learn about other religions because then they will be matured and will not be easily confused.’ 

In recent times there has been widespread criticism of ‘Asian’ people in general and Muslims in particular.

In November 2016, Swaziland’s Director of Public Prosecutions Nkosinathi Maseko told a parliamentary select committee set up to investigate what the Observer on Sunday newspaper called an ‘influx of illegal immigrants’ into the kingdom, ‘most nationals of Asian origin were associated with terrorist activities’.  

In the same month, Muslims in Swaziland reported they were ‘terrorised’ by local police. The Imam of Ezulwini Islamic Centre, Feroz Ismail, said guests had visited the kingdom from across Africa for a graduation and Jasla Ceremony.

The Times of Swaziland newspaper on 23 November 2016 reported him saying the guests, ‘were abused while in the country. They informed me that they were terrorised by the police while visiting some tourist attraction areas including the glass and candle factory.’ 

He said police demanded that the visitors produce their passports and other documents required for visitors to be in the country.

The Times reported Ismail saying, ‘They were ferried in police vehicles to their hotel rooms as the officers demanded that they immediately produce documents which proved that they were in the country legally.’

This was not the first time police have been heavy-handed with Muslims. In September 2016, it was reported undercover police were infiltrating Muslim mosques to attend Friday prayers.

The Times, the only independent daily newspaper in the overwhelmingly Christian kingdom, reported that police were suspected of monitoring the Muslim community.

In September 2016, hungry people in Swaziland defied Christian leaders and attended a Muslim ceremony, because free meat was being given away. As part of the Islamic Eid-ul-Adah ceremony Muslims slaughter meat and give one third of it away to needy people.

When it was announced that free meat would be available, Christian leaders condemned the move and ordered their flocks to stay away.

President of the League of Churches Bishop Simon Hlatjwako was reported by the Times of Swaziland saying true Christians would not participate in the event and would not eat the free meat offered by Muslims.

‘True Christians should not dare set foot at the Muslim slaughtering ceremony,’ he reportedly said. He added, ‘Personally, I would not even bother myself; I do not care about their meat and ceremonies. Muslims worship their own god and as Christians, we do not go along with their god.’

The newspaper also reported Bishop Steven Masilela, President of the Conference of Churches, saying as they were the body of Christ, they were not allowed to eat everything.

See also

ALL ASIANS BANNED FROM SWAZILAND

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2016/07/all-asians-banned-from-swaziland.html

CUTS TO HIT PRIMARY EDUCATION

The Swaziland Government lied when it said there would be no financial cuts in education as a result of the economic crisis ripping the kingdom.

Now, it is revealed that money is so tight, pupils might be forced to take lessons under trees.

Majozi Sithole, the Swazi Finance Minister, said in November 2010 and has repeated since that health and education would not be affected by government-imposed spending cuts.

But, now it is revealed that the project to expand free primary education for all children is in jeopardy – because the government has run out of money.

As part of capital expenditure cuts the E31 million (US$4.4 million) needed to build teachers’ houses and classrooms is not there.

About 560 Primary schools across Swaziland need new classrooms to accommodate the pupils enrolling for the free education programme.

Pat Muir, Principal Secretary at the Ministry of Education, revealed this last week. He told a primary school thanksgiving ceremony that parents deserved to be told the truth about what was going on.

The Swazi Observer newspaper reported him saying this should be done to avoid panic next year - when some pupils might be forced to take lessons under trees.

‘OBSERVER’ UPRISING SCARE TACTICS

The Swazi Observer is trying to instil fear throughout Swaziland with its false claim that the government ‘will deploy security forces to the country’s different schools next Tuesday to protect pupils and teachers during the proposed uprising’.

It is incorrectly suggesting that children are in danger from protestors during the day dubbed the 12 April Uprising.

Today (5 April 2011), the Observer splashes a huge headline Cops to be deployed in schools on April 12 on its front page.

The Observer, the newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, says the news of police deployment ‘should come as a relief to parents’ who wanted to know ‘if it would be safe for them to send their children to school’.

But, if you read the report you see that there is nothing to support the Observer’s claim that children are in danger. And nobody actually says that police will be ‘deployed’ in schools.

Pat Muir, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Training , said there was no intention to close schools but should ‘the need arise’ they would deploy security forces.

That’s a long way from saying cops will be deployed.

Muir told the newspaper that if the experience of 18 March (when teachers were among about 8,000 people on a protest march calling on the entire government to resign) was anything to go by there would be no problems on 12 April.

‘Considering that last month during the mass strike action schools operations progressed smoothly and we expect the same even this time around if there would be any action,’ the newspaper reported him saying.

So, no danger to children. No cops deployed in schools. Just King Mswati’s newspaper telling lies to its readers. Again.

KING IS RICH, BUT NOT SWAZILAND

While Swaziland struggles to alleviate its fiscal crisis with foreign aid because of its World Bank classification as a lower middle-income country, the government has increased the budget for King Mswati III, Africa’s last remaining absolute monarch and one of the richest royals in the world, the IPS news agency reported.

This move came despite figures showing that while the number of people living on less than two dollars a day has dropped by six percent between 2001 and 2010, the welfare of the poorest people, which make up 30 percent of the population, has not improved.

Pat Muir, principal secretary at the Ministry of Education and Training, says, ‘the country’s World Bank classification makes it impossible for us to partner with international organisations that could assist us with some of our services’.

When the government sets out to raise foreign aid, donors always remind Mbabane that Swaziland is not regarded as a country poor enough to ‘deserve’ much of this kind of assistance, notes Muir.

Majozi Sithole, Swazi Finance Minister, decries the skewed distribution of wealth in the kingdom, which contributes to the kingdom being classified as a lower middle-income state. This status is based on an elite representing only 10 percent of the population but controlling 60 percent of the country’s wealth.

Swaziland’s lower middle-income status also presents a problem to civil society organisations as donors’ focus shifted to least developed countries.

According to Emmanuel Ndlangamandla, the director for the Coordinating Assembly for Non-Governmental Organisations (CANGO), foreign aid to Swaziland started to dry up from the 1990s.

‘Since then, NGOs have been downscaling operations because donors are not interested in funding Swaziland because of its lower middle-income status,’ says Ndlangamandla.

What has further compounded the problem, states Khangezile Dlamini, the general secretary for Council of Swaziland Churches (CSC), is the system of governance that breeds corruption and does not allow transparency.

‘Donors tell us that government hosts the king’s birthday celebrations every year, yet it fails to provide for its poor people,’ said Dlamini. Despite the fiscal crisis, government still plans to host the king’s birthday celebrations on 19 April.

She said CSC had to discontinue a programme where the organisation was installing boreholes for poor communities in drought-prone areas. ‘Our donors told us that government should be responsible for providing these services to its people.’

To read the full report, click here.