E65M SET ASIDE, 364 TEACHERS HIRED ON PERMANENT BASIS

MBABANE - A total of 364 temporary teachers have been hired on a permanent and pensionable basis. Government has since set aside E65 million for the conversion of temporary teachers to permanent positions and the employment of Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) teachers into permanent positions. This was revealed by the Minister of Public Service, Mabulala Maseko, during a press conference at the ministry’s offices yesterday. The conversion process started in the previous financial year, when a total of 942 temporary teachers were hired into permanent positions. Maseko said His Majesty’s government had, in the medium-term, endeavoured to absorb the ever-escalating number of temporary teachers in the Ministry of Education and Training into a permanent and pensionable establishment.

According to Maseko, this is an incremental process that began in the 2023/2024 financial year, whereby a total of 942 temporary teachers were converted into permanent and pensionable establishments; 686 of which were allocated to primary schools, 104 to secondary schools and 152 to high schools. Giving a breakdown of the figures, Maseko said a total of 284 temporary positions have already been converted to vacant and a total of 80 positions have been created, to further absorb temporary teachers into the permanent establishment. “In total, 364 temporal teachers have been absorbed into the permanent establishment this financial year,” Maseko said.

He assured the nation and all stakeholders of their commitment towards continuously converting the temporary teachers to permanent establishment on an annual basis, funds allowing, until the situation is fully normalised. On the same note, the Minister of Education and Training, Owen Nxumalo, said he was able to sleep at night following this development. Nxumalo said they were pained by seeing teachers engaged on temporary basis for a long time. He stated that teachers issues were also raised during Sibaya, where they were mandated to come up with solutions. The minister thanked Cabinet and Their Majesties for allowing them to assist emaSwati.Nxumalo further urged the teachers to work with diligence in executing their duties. Furthermore, he assured the nation that they were working hard to address food shortages in schools.

Delayed

Nxumalo explained that they were delayed by procurement processes; however, they were hopeful that it would not be for long. Meanwhile, the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) Secretary General (SG), Lot Vilakati, said they would always welcome a move that aimed at changing teachers’ lives. Vilakati said government needs to replace all the vacant permanent posts.  According to Vilakati, they are only waiting for an announcement of about 4 000 new posts created for teachers, not the already existing ones.
“It is wrong to engage someone temporarily for a permanent post.

“We want all the 4 000 existing temporary posts to be converted into permanent positions,” Vilakati said.  Adding, he said they had expected government to employ 1 000 teachers this year, as the ministry had announced. He went on to criticise government for engaging the teachers in the middle of the year, saying that affects the ministry’s operations.   “They have to start afresh their paperwork and it is a very tedious job. This should be done at the beginning of the year,” he said.  On diverse occasions, SNAT members marched to the Ministry of Public Service demanding  government to hire at least 5 000 teachers on a permanent basis.

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