Times Of Swaziland: MINISTER ‘HANDSOME’ OWEN OWNS TEACHERS DAY!

MINISTER ‘HANDSOME’ OWEN OWNS TEACHERS DAY!
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Sibusiso Zwane on 26/10/2024 08:21:00


MANZINI - Minister of Education and Training Owen Nxumalo stole the limelight
during the World Teachers Day commemoration as teachers went crazy for him.
The event was hosted by the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) at
Mavuso Sports Centre yesterday and the minister, who teachers refer to as
‘Handsome’, was the guest speaker.As the event was ongoing, the master of
ceremonies (MC) announced that their (teachers’) ‘handsome’ (Minister
Nxumalo) was among them. The teachers, especially those who were in front of the
stage shouted ‘Viva handsome’. At that time, the Dee Jay (DJ) of the day, DJ
DD Cool was playing a progressive song titled ‘Thula mntanami’ and the
minister joined to the teachers in the dance. However, he danced at his VIP
seat.
Moments later, the MC announced that the minister was about to come on stage to
address them. The teachers sang a song with lyrics; ‘Simile umzuzwana simele
handsome’. As they were singing the song, some of them knelt in front of the
stage. Thereafter, when SNAT Secretary General Lot Vilakati, who accompanied the
minister on the stage, introduced them, he highlighted that Nxumalo asked that
they sing for him the song they welcomed him with. They sang and danced to the
song and the minister joined them as he was singing and dancing while on stage.
After that, when addressing them, the minister said he is aware of their
challenges as SNAT have submitted all of them during their bilateral meetings.
He said when he got into office; he encouraged the leadership of SNAT to
prioritise the round table when there are concerns. “I am glad that we are
using the round table more often with SNAT and our talks have been positive so
far,” the minister said.
Contract
In that regard, he said he is aware that one of the burning issues among
teachers is the hiring of educators on contract basis. The minister said as a
ministry, they are working towards addressing this issue. It is worth noting
that in January 2024, the Minister of Public Service, Mabulala Maseko, made an
announcement that government had budgeted E65 million for hiring 1 000 permanent
teachers. Again, in June 2024, he announced that 364 temporary teachers and
employment of Early Childhood Care and Development teachers will be permanently
employed. He highlighted that this is courtesy of the E65 million budget that
was set aside for the current financial year.
Again, the minister said another thorny issue among teachers is that of
dilapidated and/or lack of houses. He had visited a number of schools across the
country since he came to office and he had seen the state of teachers’ houses.
“We are sorry to the teachers who do not have houses. We are going to sit down
with SNAT and government to come up with a strategy to address the issue,” the
minister said.
In fact, he said they are in the same page with SNAT regarding the matter. As
the minister was coming from the stage, the DJ played a song titled ‘Halala’
and some of the teachers scrambled to appreciate the minister by shaking hands
with him. In a bid to accommodate them, he stood in front of them and danced to
the song, while waving his hands.However, they continued to push each other in a
bid to touch him. SNAT national executive committee members, marshals and police
officers tried to shield the minister, who was heading back to his seat at the
VIP section, but in vain as the number of teachers who wanted to come closer to
him increased.
Jubilation
As a result, the minister was shielded towards his car and they surrounded the
car, while singing the ‘Halala’ song  in jubilation as he was chauffeured
out of the venue. When called later on, the minister said he was overwhelmed by
the manner in which the teachers welcomed him on stage such that he ended up not
reading the speech he had prepared. Instead, he said he decided to speak from
the heart. Following their reaction after addressing them, he said he did not
expect such. However, he said what the teachers did will motivate him to work
even harder and cement the relationship between government, in particular the
ministry and teachers, through SNAT.