MINISTER ‘HANDSOME’ OWEN OWNS TEACHERS DAY!

MANZINI - Minister of Education and Training Owen Nxumalo stole the limelight during the World Teachers Day commemoration as teachers went crazy for him.

The event was hosted by the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) at Mavuso Sports Centre yesterday and the minister, who teachers refer to as ‘Handsome’, was the guest speaker.As the event was ongoing, the master of ceremonies (MC) announced that their (teachers’) ‘handsome’ (Minister Nxumalo) was among them. The teachers, especially those who were in front of the stage shouted ‘Viva handsome’. At that time, the Dee Jay (DJ) of the day, DJ DD Cool was playing a progressive song titled ‘Thula mntanami’ and the minister joined to the teachers in the dance. However, he danced at his VIP seat.

Moments later, the MC announced that the minister was about to come on stage to address them. The teachers sang a song with lyrics; ‘Simile umzuzwana simele handsome’. As they were singing the song, some of them knelt in front of the stage. Thereafter, when SNAT Secretary General Lot Vilakati, who accompanied the minister on the stage, introduced them, he highlighted that Nxumalo asked that they sing for him the song they welcomed him with. They sang and danced to the song and the minister joined them as he was singing and dancing while on stage.

After that, when addressing them, the minister said he is aware of their challenges as SNAT have submitted all of them during their bilateral meetings. He said when he got into office; he encouraged the leadership of SNAT to prioritise the round table when there are concerns. “I am glad that we are using the round table more often with SNAT and our talks have been positive so far,” the minister said.

Contract

In that regard, he said he is aware that one of the burning issues among teachers is the hiring of educators on contract basis. The minister said as a ministry, they are working towards addressing this issue. It is worth noting that in January 2024, the Minister of Public Service, Mabulala Maseko, made an announcement that government had budgeted E65 million for hiring 1 000 permanent teachers. Again, in June 2024, he announced that 364 temporary teachers and employment of Early Childhood Care and Development teachers will be permanently employed. He highlighted that this is courtesy of the E65 million budget that was set aside for the current financial year.

Again, the minister said another thorny issue among teachers is that of dilapidated and/or lack of houses. He had visited a number of schools across the country since he came to office and he had seen the state of teachers’ houses. “We are sorry to the teachers who do not have houses. We are going to sit down with SNAT and government to come up with a strategy to address the issue,” the minister said.

In fact, he said they are in the same page with SNAT regarding the matter. As the minister was coming from the stage, the DJ played a song titled ‘Halala’ and some of the teachers scrambled to appreciate the minister by shaking hands with him. In a bid to accommodate them, he stood in front of them and danced to the song, while waving his hands.However, they continued to push each other in a bid to touch him. SNAT national executive committee members, marshals and police officers tried to shield the minister, who was heading back to his seat at the VIP section, but in vain as the number of teachers who wanted to come closer to him increased.

Jubilation

As a result, the minister was shielded towards his car and they surrounded the car, while singing the ‘Halala’ song  in jubilation as he was chauffeured out of the venue. When called later on, the minister said he was overwhelmed by the manner in which the teachers welcomed him on stage such that he ended up not reading the speech he had prepared. Instead, he said he decided to speak from the heart. Following their reaction after addressing them, he said he did not expect such. However, he said what the teachers did will motivate him to work even harder and cement the relationship between government, in particular the ministry and teachers, through SNAT.

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