DPM WANTS OVC GRANTS MOVED TO EDUCATION

MBABANE - The DPM wants the Ministry of Education and Training to be responsible for the disbursement of OVCs education grant fees to schools.

Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Thulisile Dladla, said her office is aware of the delays in the disbursement of education grants for orphaned and vulnerable children (OVCs). She said this is caused by the late submission of the necessary information to the Treasury Department. “We are now planning to have the OVCs Office taken back to the Ministry of Education and Training. Teachers must also have all the necessary working tools in order to execute their duties well,” said the DPM.The unpreparedness on schools opening is one of the issues raised with the Prime Minister, Russell Dlamini, during the recent Editors Forum breakfast meeting, which he (PM) referred to as a personal opinion of the Managing Editor of the Times of Eswatini, Martin Dlamini.

Concerning

It was brought to the DPM’s attention that the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) has been having issues concerning why the responsibility to pay OVC grants was not given to the Ministry of Education and Training. SNAT wants the ministry to be accountable, should there be delays in payments. “I have touched on the idea of having the OVC grants taken back to the ministry in one of our Cabinet meetings. I hope it will see the light of day. Once that becomes successful, we will be in a position to pay much attention to the issues we are supposed to address as an office. I don’t like doing things as if I have poor planning,” she said. She mentioned that there are still schools that submit the list of learners who benefit from the OVC education grants late.

Furnishing

“The head teachers of the remaining schools are still working towards furnishing us with the necessary information we need,” she said. Dladla stated that the proposal to have the Ministry of Education and Training take over the process of paying school fees for OVCs has already been submitted to Cabinet. She said she hoped the request by her office to hand over the responsibility to the ministry would be successful.  According to the DPM, her office has a lot on its plate, and having the ministry take over the OVC grants payment would be helpful, as her department will be able to focus on its core responsibilities. Dladla pleaded with head teachers, whose pupils are paid for through her office to develop a culture of preparing and compiling the pupils’ lists during school holidays when the term ends, to avoid the late payment of fees.

“Getting the necessary information on time will help our social workers prepare the batch of all the learners to be paid for once and for all,” she said. On the other hand, the DPM said she and the staff in her office met on Tuesday to start making payments to schools that submitted complete lists to her office. She said some head teachers are still trying to submit their lists.
“I think they have submitted the list of the schools that handed over the expected lists to the Treasury Department to see if the school fees payment kick-starts. Currently, it looks as if we are having poor planning as an office,” she said.

She informed this publication that no public school with OVCs has received any payments this term. She said they want the entire information they need as an office to be fully and properly captured before releasing the funds. “The other delay was caused by waiting for all the schools to submit completed lists. Instead of waiting for the remaining schools to furnish us with their lists, we decided to allow the process of payment, while the other schools submit and they will be paid afterwards. “We don’t want the schools that submitted on time to be frustrated as a result of others who submitted late. Even the Social Welfare Office must be proactive in its work,” she said. She appealed for clear communication between the Ministry of Education and Training and DPM’s Office in terms of addressing the issue at hand.

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