NO AUTOMATIC PROMOTION OF PUPILS – PS

MBABANE – Forget about automatic promotion of pupils!

The above response was communicated by the Ministry of Education and Training, following that some parents want government to consider automatic promotion of pupils to the next grade. Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Education and Training Bheki Gama said there was no way that pupils who failed could be promoted to the next class. Gama stated this was completely a new academic year and pupils who passed progressed to the next grade, while those who failed had to repeat.  

Tested

The PS said pupils were tested according to what they had covered in the syllabus, within the number of days that they were in class. When questioned on the pupils’ overall performance, he stated that they were expecting it to be normal because learners were supposed to be tested on what they had learnt. “If it is normal, those who were not taking their schoolwork seriously will fail, while those who worked hard will move on to the next class,” the PS said. This comes after several parents, in different platforms, expressed concern that they could not afford paying the previous school fees balance for their children as well as the current fees for pupils who would be repeating the same grade.

Eswatini School Committee Parents Association’s (ESCPA) Cyprian Dlamini said they were hoping for their children to be promoted to the next class as they were struggling to pay the fees for the past and current academic years. According to Dlamini, they had not anticipated that there would be pupils who would be made to repeat classes. “Although as parents it also does not work for us when our children are promoted, due to the current situation of COVID-19 and unrest, we insist on the promotion of our children,” he said. Dlamini wondered what criteria the teachers used for those pupils who passed and those who failed within the few days of learning. It is estimated that pupils went to school for about 33 days in the past academic year.

Dlamini said the obtaining situation would result in instability, which could lead to schools not reopening, yet this was something that could be avoided. “As parents, we are advocating for quality education but against being frustrated.” Dlamini said the pupils who had not received reports could retaliate out of anger, which could result in chaos.He said as a parents’ association, they thought government would engage them when taking decisions. Dlamini said he was a school committee member and what happened was that teachers did not communicate but simply implemented decisions, which included that they would not release report cards for pupils owing school fees.  Meanwhile, he added that they were hoping government would be reasonable on the issue of fees.

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