BY TSABEDZE KWANELE
MANZINI – In a bid to encourage and recognize the country’s top performing intellectuals at a young age, the Manzini Regional Education Office (REO) has launched the Manzini Region Academic Awards.
The Minister of Education Lady Howard Mabuza, as represented by Jonathan Nhlengetfwa, expressed an appreciation for teachers’ efforts in educating young minds.
Delivering a speech on behalf of the Minister at the launch event today, Nhlengetfwa remarked that, “The Ministry wishes to acknowledge the contribution of teachers and learners for their efforts for the 2021 exam performance, which saw the Manzini region securing the top spot across all levels sitting for external examinations. We take cognizance of the fact that no effective teaching and learning can be realised without dedicated teachers – hence on this day we will make time to salute our teachers for their unwavering commitment.”
Nhlengetfwa added that, “The excellent academic perfomance in the 2021 examinations was achieved despite the challenges brought forth by the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic brought about catastrophic repercussions to humanity the world over as a lot of lives were lost, the health system battled to cope with the challenges, the marginalised and vulnerable families and children were greatly affected in this process and there was a lot of uncertainty, grief and trauma. Thus the ducation system was not spard from these challenges. As a result, educators had to swiftly adapt to new modes of teaching to align themselves with the prevailing circumstances. The Ministry of Education and Training will forever be indebted to those teachers who braved the pandemic and created media lessons to ensure that learners continued learning.”
The Minister expressed that it is due to the creativity and responsiveness of educators in the country that the Manzini region had excellent results.
In launching the awards, the Minister said that, “We proudly recognize that our learners have had to sacrifice on a number of things to realise these good results. Indisputably, it is often said that ‘no pain, no gain’. On this great day, we want to honor those learners who have proven that dedication and great discipline pay well in the end.”
