Times Of Swaziland: Why no investment in education?

Why no investment in education?
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the Editor on 14/01/2013 00:00:00


Sir,
This government is hurting our teachers and it is not funny anymore. What would
this country be without teachers?
Education is a major factor in the human development index. Countries that
invest well in education are in the top bracket of human development.
They reap bountifully from the cross-cutting benefits of education.
Our low position in the human development index is not a full picture
of the depth of the decay in various spheres of our society. In education, for
example, there is hardly any investment to improve the teaching environment or
the education of our teachers.
While many of us admit that teaching is a thankless job, we have added to the
burden of those who, over the years, made this humanitarian gesture to our
society.
Rejected
They are poorly paid, and live in ruinous poverty after retirement. They form a
huge part of the pension queues, the signature of those society has rejected.
There is very little in the life of a Swazi teacher to recommend the profession
to others.
Many of those in service are not happy and society is not bothered. As the
profession becomes less attractive because of its appalling conditions of
service, younger people who should take over from the retiring teachers are said
to seek fulfilment elsewhere. How will this society survive without teachers?
Our education has problems with facilities and curriculum, resulting from
government’s unwillingness to consider the sector a priority. The sustenance
of education thus far has been up to the dedication of teachers, who still
relish seeing their efforts in turning young men and women into the country’s
leaders.
No serious country can sustain itself on such lean passion, which would die with
the generation that espouses it.
Initiatives
Government should institute major initiatives in education to reduce its
bureaucracy and save funds for the training and welfare of teachers and improve
facilities in schools.
Special attention needs to be paid to attracting younger people to teaching.
At all levels they are unwilling to subject themselves to a life of penury,
which is what this government and country has prescribed for teachers.
Enduring improvements in society are no longer feasible with the minimal
investment we make in the welfare of teachers and provision of teaching. This is
really unfortunate.
What generation is this government producing? Why are we hurting our teachers so
painfully?
Precious
As the year begins, how can we celebrate even a day when our teachers have
little or no food to eat, when their rights are not due to them?
We are all equal before God and no life is more precious than another in the
eyes of the Almighty.
We are not in George Orwell’s animal farm where pigs turned things upside
down, broke the commandment of equality and turned the kingdom into a place
where ‘all animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others’.
Life is the same, be it of a prince or a serf. Our politicians prefer to doctor
our ‘unity’ rather than allowing Swazis to choose their destiny and freedom.
Our Constitution is a skewed document. One day we will wake up to truth and know
that we are delaying our progress.
All this is a by-product of an irresponsible, corrupt and insensitive government
that has always thought that what goes around certainly does not come around.
Colleen Matsebula,
London, UK