GOVT SCHOLARSHIP BLOW FOR ASPIRING TEACHERS

MBABANE – Prospective first-year students aiming to enrol in the Bachelor of Arts in Humanities programme at the University of Eswatini (UNESWA) will now have to pay fees from their own pockets.

This comes after government announced it will no longer provide scholarships for the programme, with effect from the academic year 2025/2026, shifting the financial burden entirely to students. This was announced by the Minister of Labour and Social Security, Phila Buthelezi, in a press conference yesterday. From UNESWA’s prospectus, the annual tuition fee for this programme is over E18 000, starting from the first year. The fees increase throughout the years, till the final year.

Speaking during the press conference, Buthelezi informed UNESWA students that Cabinet has resolved that the Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) will be funded for the academic year 2024/2025. Buthelezi said the PGCE programme will cease being funded at the end of the academic year 2028/2029. “The ministry will notify students wishing to pursue the programme on application dates and logistics in due course,” Buthelezi said.

According to Buthelezi, the ministry will no longer fund the Bachelor of Arts in Humanities programme with effect from the academic year 2025/ 2026, as the programme does not form part of the priority areas of study.  He stated that all students wishing to pursue the programme from next year will be self-funded.

Continue

Adding, the minister explained that there is a programme with humanities (Bachelor of Education (Humanities), which they will continue to fund. He said the decision to stop providing scholarships was taken following concerns that the students are not employable, they need PGCE for them to get jobs. Buthelezi mentioned that, to avoid having two streams with the same programme, they saw it fit to cease prioritising the Bachelor of Arts in Humanities and students will continue to benefit from the Bachelor of Education (Humanities).
The minister went on to explain that a reviewed priority list will be disseminated as soon as possible.

“The ministry re-emphasises its commitment to ensuring that students’ welfare is prioritised and that an enabling environment is created for them to make their learning journey a positive experience and of course cannot achieve this without the cooperation of all the stakeholders; that is the tertiary institutions, student body and parents,” he said.

Frustrate

Meanwhile, the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) Secretary General (SG), Lot Vilakati, said this is a clear indication that education issues should be addressed by the Ministry of Education and Training and its stakeholders. Vilakati said this was allegedly a decision to frustrate the education sector. He stated that this decision will haunt the country in the next few years.

According to Vilakati, this will also disadvantage those who are unable to pay for themselves. He urged government to prioritise education. “The notion that the students are not employable is amiss as we have a lot of people hired in government without education. They want to make the country belong to those who are uneducated,” Vilakati said. He went on to state that, as SNAT, they are against this decision as this demonises education. The SG mentioned that they are willing to engage the minister of labour and social security, to say that he is allegedly committing a political education mistake. He emphasised that this will haunt the country in the next few years.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: