Times Of Swaziland: ESWATINI PRIORITISING ARMY OVER EDUCATION SYSTEM – SNAT

ESWATINI PRIORITISING ARMY OVER EDUCATION SYSTEM – SNAT
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Thulile Gama on 02/06/2022 08:35:00


MBABANE – The Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) has evaluated
the employment structure of security forces over teachers’ employment
structure.
The association said the fact that teachers were employed on contracts, yet
soldiers were employed on a permanent basis, was a clear indication that there
was an issue of prioritising one sector over the other. The association said
this move was viewed as a matter of prioritising on the army than the education
system. The teachers’ association is of the view that employing enough
teachers in schools would reduce the number of learners per teacher. This would
have an impact on the quality of the education and the life of the teacher in
general. In an interview with the SNAT Secretary General (SG), Sikelela Dlamini,
he said employing more teachers would improve results in schools.
Economy
“Ultimately, education is a critical stakeholder of the economy and shall
surely claim its rightful place,” he said. Dlamini added that the security
issues in schools were now worrying teachers. “Since June last year, teachers
have been attacked,” he said. The SG  said this made teachers uncomfortable
even when doing their work. Dlamini also touched on the issue of soldiers’
recruitment and said it left them with unanswered questions. “Where will the
money to pay them come from now when there is no money for the education
sector?” he asked.
He also said that free primary education (FPE) and orphaned and vulnerable
children (OVC) funds needed to be increased to adequately meet the cost of
education. A post about the security forces’ recruitment was posted on the
SNAT platform page and below is what some facebook users said.