PM, PLEASE HEAL TEACHERS’ SCARS

Sir,

My heart was heavy as I pieced this lamentation directed to the Premier, Ambrose M. Dlamini. I am full of scars inflicted on me as a teacher for a period of over 10 years. This was done deliberately by the former late premier. Teachers only remember him by the inhumane treatment he accosted them while in power. We rest our hope on you Nkhosi to heal our wounds.

I consider myself lucky to join the national conversation that seeks to rebuild our kingdom through appealing for an audience with the premier. I am inspired by the zeal and determination of the premier and feel compelled to register some concerns of teachers.
It’s a public fact that, as teachers, we are the most despised in the kingdom. The former prime minister ensured that the teaching profession was eroded of any dignity and was least considered. You cannot believe it that come end of December, I will be jobless.

For five years now, I have been employed and unemployed towards year end. This has become a routine for me and normality for government. This, despite the fact that I am highly qualified. Since I graduated, the government you inherited has been hiring me and many of my colleagues on contractual basis.

Excuse

The lame excuse provided is that there are no permanent posts. Yet in the other sectors, such as the armed forces, government always creates permanent posts. If I am wrong, show me a soldier or police officer who is on contract. This double standard is exactly what creates enmity between government and the masses.
Trouble for teachers began in 2008 when the former PM was reappointed into office. His hatred for teachers made him see us as an obstacle. He saw us as a problem that needed to be fixed. And fix us he did.

First, by ordering that we be hired on contractual basis under the guise that there were no posts. Yet this arrangement was done for the sole benefit of government as it got to save millions of Emalangeni which they used to gallivant around the world.
Mr PM, at the centre of contract teachers are human beings, with hearts. We plead labour respect. Let your reign be a beacon of hope for us. Please order the hiring of all contract teachers permanently, with immediate effect from January 1, 2019.

Dignity

Secondly, restore the dignity of the profession by remunerating teachers well. This will in turn result to learning excellence as we will be highly motivated. Teachers should not be used as rescuers of our ailing economy. Your corporate legacy and financial acumen should not be a boil to our economy and profession.

As words of departure, remember that ‘teachers are not a problem to be fixed’ and ‘in the centre of contract teachers lies a heart’. Also, thank you for finally drumming sense to a spoilt government that for 10 years was made to believe that money grows on trees. At last, there is a man in town who speaks our language. As the late Thulani Thwala once said; ‘The eagle has landed.’ Nelson Mandela once said; ‘If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.’ I will wait with hope that you will address our predicament. May God bless you and Eswatini.

A hopeful permanent teacher

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