UNESWA NEEDS TO REPACKAGE

Madam,

Some years ago employers preferred to Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) Diploma-holders to UNESWA Bachelor of Commerce (B.Comm) graduates. Regarded as the most popular modern apprenticeship pathway in the accountancy sector, providing unique skills, such as managing companies’ money and securing business deals and others that make employees thrive in the workplace, AAT was considered more professional that the B.comm, which was considered more academic than practical.

However, later the UNESWA Faculty of Commerce radically transformed its B.Comm programme into a robust course, offering general courses for the first three years’ leading to a Diploma in Commerce after which successful students specialised either in management, accounting or marketing. The faculty struck strategic partnerships with other universities, the private and public sector, professional organisations, development partners and communities.

Programme

The programme became so successful, that some graduates were spoilt for choice in terms of job offers. In fact, most did not have to go through the stress of job seeking, because they were already attached to various entities within both the public sector and private sector. The key to the success of the programme is enshrined in the faculty’s mission statement, that is: ‘to develop programmes that are responsive to the needs of the public, private, and individual sectors. The faculty's mission is achieved through: Training, research, community engagement and service, and entrepreneurship.’

The same cannot be said about the Faculty of Humanities. It is unfortunate that, for years, UNESWA has neglected to resolve the Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) dilemma until government decided to halt sponsoring  students who wish the pursue that Bachelor of Arts in Humanities programme.  Aside from the fact that the decision to cut scholarships for the BA Humanities programme seems to be centred around the saturation of the teaching profession, the fact that those who wish to pursue the BA programme have to pay from their own pockets means it is reserved for the affluent, much against the principle of equitable education. Equitable education systems are supposed to ensure that every student can achieve their educational potential regardless of their personal or social circumstances.

Stakeholders

The Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) has come out to critisise the decision by the Minister of Labour and Social Security calling it a move to frustrate education and a clear indication that education issues should be addressed by the Ministry of Education and Training and its stakeholders. This suggests the decision was made without exhaustive consultation with relevant stakeholders. However, given the saturation of the job market and the fact that BA graduates are not employable, without the PGCE, it would seem that government made a good business decision. After all, why continue funding the production of a product that is not selling?

UNESWA has dropped the ball on this one. There is a need for the university to repackage its products or programmes to satisfy the job market. Otherwise, there is a high possibility that more programmes will soon be falling like dominoes from the government scholarship priority list.  Given the financial challenges faced by government in other sectors such as health and the noose that seems to be slowly tightening around corruption, the possibility that this could be a first step towards the extinction of the government scholarship programme to divert funds is a scary prospect, for the future of education.
Concerned citizen

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