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SNAT: OVER 70 TEACHERS PAID BRIBES FOR JOBS, PROMOTIONS

03/10/2024 08:51:00 Siboniso Nkambule

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MBABANE - SNAT has raised serious allegations of corruption within the education sector, claiming that over 70 teachers have reported paying bribes to secure jobs, promotions and transfers.
In a shocking revelation, the union also alleged that some teachers were forced to pay in kind, to have charges, some of which are fabricated against them, dropped. With evidence in hand, the union said it is ready to expose the information, calling for immediate action against those involved in the alleged corruption. The Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) expressed readiness to appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to reveal the full extent of challenges faced by teachers in Eswatini.

Evidence

According to SNAT Secretary General (SG) Lot Vilakati, they possess evidence to back up claims of widespread anomalies within the teaching profession. Vilakati stated that the recent human resource audit report of the Eswatini Internal Audit completed on the Ministry of Education and Training, as well as the Teaching Service Commission (TSC), only scratches the surface of alleged corruption. He alleged that teachers are still being forced to pay for posts and that officials demand bribes, including sexual favours, in exchange for jobs and transfers.
They intend to expose those responsible for these unethical practices. In the report, published by the Times SUNDAY, it was stated that close to 100 appointments of head teachers and deputies were made without the mandatory advertising of vacant posts in the financial year 2020/21. This is one of many irregularities that were noted within the country’s education sector.

Appointed

The audit was meant to ascertain whether experienced and qualified teachers were appointed in the financial years 2020 and 2021. It came about following a finding made by the Auditor General (AG), Timothy Matsebula, who uncovered that there was an over-expenditure of E376 301 301.63 on the recurrent vote of the ministry for that particular financial period.
When the AG noted the anomaly, the controlling officer (principal secretary) at the time had stated that the Internal Audit Department conducted an audit of the operations of the TSC for the year ending March 31, 2022, and that a report was on its way.

Following persuasion by the PAC, the report has recently been made available. One of the findings made in the report was that vacant administrative positions were filled without the advertising of the posts. The finding was that 56 appointments of head teachers and 39 of deputy head teachers were made during the financial year 2020/21, without advertising the vacant posts. According to the report, there was only one advert for a deputy head teacher dated March 3, 2020, for waivers 8393 and 9140. The report contains a list of the posts that were filled without issuing advertisements.

On the same issue, the report mentioned that an advert dated November 4, 2021, did not contain all the relevant information needed by the applicants, such as where the application forms were to be obtained and attachments, including certified copies of academic certificates, resulting in others failing to comply with the job requirements and losing the appointments. In terms of risks, the auditors cited the unfair appointment of administrators, resulting in the most qualified teachers losing out.

Auditors

Another risk cited by the auditors was that without advertising the posts, the criteria used in the recruitment of administrators could not be known, which had the potential of leading to the employment of unqualified and experienced teachers and that could negatively affect the administration of schools.Reacting to the report, Vilakati said they were grateful that, what they have been saying all these years is now uncovered. He alleged that there was a lot of corruption within the education sector affecting teachers. According to Vilakati, they have a list of teachers who have been treated unjustly within the sector and they want to tell it all to the PAC. He revealed that over 70 teachers have shared their stories, of how they allegedly paid for posts, transfers and promotions to some officials. The SG said the monies paid ranged in accordance with the officials involved. “Some have paid for fabricated charges against them to be dropped. This is a norm and it has happened for years. We have a list of the teachers and evidence to back our claims,” he alleged.

According to Vilakati, some of the teachers are willing to speak while others are not, but they have confirmed all these claims against some officials within the education sector. Adding, he stated that the PAC should call them as witnesses and with one education stakeholder, who they say is behind the claims, so that they could add to what the audit uncovered. “This is just a tip of the iceberg, as we have more information and evidence about extortion faced by teachers.

Transfers

Some teachers have paid serious monies for transfers, to move from a rural school to an urban one. All this is well documented and we are ready to testify, to tell it all,” Vilakati alleged.
Adding, he alleged that some teachers were asked for sexual favours in exchange for jobs and transfers. Vilakati also alleged that some head teachers are paying individuals for the jobs they currently occupy. “Some head teachers are even forced to grant school tenders to these individuals as a form of payment. We know a lot and the PAC should call us as we want to name and shame the people forcing teachers to pay in exchange for job opportunities. “We are ready to tell it all directly as we also have evidence of all these claims,” he alleged.
The SG went on to state that they also want to make their position clear on the SNAT President Mbongwa Dlamini’s issue.

He said the court was clear that Dlamini should be reinstated, thus they want the court’s ruling to be honoured and Dlamini to be paid his salary. Furthermore, Vilakati mentioned that it was appeasing to note that what they had been saying all along was not a fallacy. “We have information that permanent teachers who have worked for government for years are unable to apply for salary advances, as they have to pay someone for that to happen. The day we are called in Parliament, by the PAC, we will say everything we know, based on the evidence we have,” he said. When asked how many teachers were affected and what evidence they possess to back their claims, Vilakati maintained that the teachers are over 70, but the real number is well documented in their file. He said they also have concrete evidence on these allegations.

Affected

He maintained that several teachers were affected by the aforementioned and are ready to expose it before the PAC. Meanwhile, when Vilakati was sought to substantiate his allegations with proof, he said: “We cannot share it with you as it is our ammunition that we shall present to the PAC.” In the audit report, it was recommended that the TSC executive secretary ensure that the media used when making the advert was effective so that the response to applications could be increased and the pool of selection of candidates could be wide. The audit also recommended that the commission needed to ensure that there was proper planning for the filling of administrative vacant posts, especially those which were created by mandatory retirements, such that there was enough time to advertise the existing and expected vacancies.

In looking into the finding, the auditors cited the Teaching Service Regulations of 1983 Section 25, Sub-section 1, which states that; ‘if a promotional post exists in the teaching service, including that of the head teacher and deputy head teacher, the TSC shall advertise the post and invite applications’. The second finding contained in the report was that procedures were not followed when submitting applications. It was stated that an advert dated November 4, 2021, and closing November 10, 2021, for vacant posts of head teachers for both primary and high schools required that applications needed to be hand delivered only to the executive secretary of the TSC. However, the report said the applications’ registration book showed that this was not done by the applicants.

It was said that about 10 applications, according to the report, for the posts of head teachers for both primary and high schools dated November 10, 2021, were submitted by one person who signed on behalf of the applicants, in as reflected on, applications’ records. “This shows that the applications were not hand delivered by the applicants to the executive secretary, as per the instruction in the advert.