BY MBONO MDLULI
LOBAMBA – It looks like Government has to work hard to improve the education sector of the country.
Today, Members of Parliament (MPs) took turns in highlighting how bad the situation is in their respective constituencies. The MPs were debating the 2023/24 annual performance of the Ministry of Education and Training.
The MPs spoke about many issues that needed to be addressed as a matter of urgency. The issues range from shortage of teachers, food, water, learning materials in schools to issues of tertiary institutions that are being neglected.
MPs also talked about teachers and lecturers who are either not paid in time or never paid at all. Issues of alleged corruption within the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) were also brought up.
The Lawmakers also expressed concerns about pupils who were expelled because they did not pay school fees. Timphisini MP Thulani Nsingwane pleaded with the Ministry to ensure that every child was in school to get an education.
Motshane MP Wilton Nkambule pleaded with the Ministry to ensure that money was disbursed as early as possible to schools so that the schools could be able to run.
Maseyisini MP Nokuthula Dlamini complained that Mbukwane High School was short of six teachers. Sigwe MP David ‘Cruiser’ Ngcamphalala also complained about the same problem during the performance debate of the Ministry of Public Service.
Ngcamphalala said Lulakeni High School under his constituency was short of eight teachers. Lubombo Region MP Futhi Ngcamphalala complained about the state of affairs at the University of Eswatini (UNESWA).
She said UNESWA needed about E400 million to bring its operations back to normality. Ngcamphalala found that Government subverted the tertiary institution with about the same amount. This made her believe that there were some years where Government did not give the subvention to UNESWA.
Ngcamphalala’s sentiments were shared by Mhlambanyatsi MP Dr Bonginkosi Dlamini. As a former UNESWA lecturer, Dlamini said it was becoming a burden to be an instructor in that institution.
He said the institution had no teaching material and lecturers were not paid in time. This, according to the academic, was demoralising and it affected the education sector in the country. Dlamini said some schools have not received food and pupils were hungry, as a result.
Lomahasha MP Zanele Mashaba submitted that administrations of the tertiary institutions of the were unfairly blamed by students for their delayed allowances. She said the students became vulgar and insulted the principals and other authorities of the institutions, thinking they were the ones who delayed the payment of the allowances.
Ngudzeni MP Charles Ndlovu said in his constituency, children who were as young as six or seven years of age were made to walk for about 12 kilometres to and from school. He said there were other areas they had identified, where some schools were to be built. He pleaded with the Ministry of Education and Training to help where it could.
Somntongo MP Sandile Nxumalo revealed that the girl child was the most affected in the whole scheme of things. He said some female children would be absent for over 40 days and some of these problems would be that they did not have sanitary pads. He pleaded with Government to help in this regard.
Phondo MP Bonginkosi Dube alleged that some teachers were made to pay E3000 and some E10 000 by some TSC officials to teach in some schools. He said when the teachers started teaching in their workstations, they would go for three months without being paid.
Dvokodvweni MP Sifiso Shabalala said there was a school known as Njabulweni in his constituency. Shabalala stated that this school was not operational, as it has not been opened. Children were out in the wilderness and were not in school.
Hhohho Region MP Tanele Magagula pointed out that there was an Education Board that was supposed to have been set up to help operationalise the education sector. She said the Minister was also supposed to consult with this board and she wondered how the Minister worked without this board, as it was a legal requirement to have such a board.
Mafutseni MP Sabelo Mtsetfwa wondered why teachers were employe on temporary basis when such was not done among police officers and soldiers. He also said there was one teacher who was temporary for eight years. The contract of that teacher was not renewed. Instead, another one was employed and was made permanent. He was of the view that such an act constituted corruption.
Mbabane East MP Welcome Dlamini suggested that the model of paying school fees because the prevailing situation hindered children to have access to education. He also suggested that institutions providing pre-vocational education should be taken seriously because they could give relevant education to Emaswati. He said schools such as BSA Training Centre and Gwamile VOCTIM should be given the seriousness they deserved.
Lugongolweni MP Joseph Souza suggested that the budget of the education sector should be increased from E5 billion to about E8 billion. He said the problems articulated by his colleagues showed that the budget for this sector was not enough.
The debate for the Ministry of Education started at 11am in the House of Assembly. Normally, debates of Ministries take two hours to debate, meaning that the debate was supposed to end at 1am. However, because the Ministry is vast, the issues were debated until 2:15pm.
