{"id":42304,"date":"2024-01-23T17:50:53","date_gmt":"2024-01-23T17:50:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/?p=42304"},"modified":"2024-01-23T15:17:35","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T15:17:35","slug":"snat-schools-not-ready-4-000-posts-vacant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/snat-schools-not-ready-4-000-posts-vacant","title":{"rendered":"SNAT: SCHOOLS NOT READY, 4 000 POSTS VACANT"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Eswatini. <\/strong><\/span>Schools are not ready to open, according to the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT).<\/b><\/p>\n

SNAT held a press conference yesterday along with the Eswatini Schools Committee and Parents Association (ESCAPA) at the SNAT Centre, Manzini. Present during the briefing was the ESCAPA President, Cedric Chirwa, ESCAPA Deputy President Sisana Mamba, SNAT President Mbongwa Dlamini, SNAT Secretary General (SG) Lot Vilakati and SNAT Deputy SG Mxolisi Ngcamphalala. The two entities engaged, and a number of issues were raised, which they said made them conclude that schools were not ready to open tomorrow. In fact, SNAT informed teachers that they shall be on a fact-finding mission today and would update them later on.<\/p>\n

Conclude<\/b><\/p>\n

Among the things which the two entities claimed were the cause to conclude that schools were not ready to open tomorrow was that teachers\u2019 contracts were not renewed, while also 4 000 educators were yet to be employed to fill vacant posts which were created through natural attrition, retirement and resigning from the profession. In addressing the issues, the ESCAPA president said it was critical for all stakeholders to meet before the schools opened. He said this would assist in having a list of things that needed to be addressed and review if those issues were addressed. This, he said, would yield great results at the end of the year, as there would be no excuse for shortfalls if all resources were availed. Chirwa said education was any country\u2019s investment and needed the best attention. He said they had received news that some contract teachers were yet to be offered their 13th cheque. Chirwa said this had a negative impact on the teachers, as they were not psychologically ready to resume work.<\/p>\n

Profession<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cThe conditions that teachers find themselves working under are killing the profession and it is why the best learners they produce in schools want nothing to do with their trade,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Chirwa said there was no security for teachers recruited on fixed term. His assertion was echoed by his deputy, who said it had always boggled her mind as to why teachers died early. She said it had now dawned on her that most were not taken care of by the employer and also worked under stressful conditions. Mamba said: \u201cSchools don\u2019t perform well because there is lack of resources and the unfortunate part is that teachers are blamed when the end-of-year results are poor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rhetorically, she asked how schools would function if there were no resources. Mamba said in the school where she was in the parents committee, they were disappointed to realise that the Free Primary Education (FPE) grant was not deposited. Mamba said there was only a balance of E8 000, which was left last year while on the other hand, there were reports that government had paid the grants. She said the lack of resources meant that schools had overgrown vegetation, no electricity units and other consumables. Mamba said while there was a call for permanent teachers, an artificial intelligence (AI) was introduced. She said government had rationed food from the school feeding programme due to escalating costs and wondered what shall be used in schools by head teachers to ensure that they ran them smoothly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only thing that is available in schools is stationery. There are no FPE grants, food and teachers. So how will they operate?\u201d she asked. Also, the SNAT President Dlamini, said they were clueless on whether schools, were ready to open tomorrow. He said what they were aware of was that schools which had been affected by the recent storms, were not fixed and the pace in attending to this was very slow. \u201cMany of these schools shall not open, as they are not ready and this will add to the teachers\u2019 workload towards the end of the year, as they shall have to cover the syllabus despite that lessons were stalled by the lack of speed by government,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said the pace in recruiting teachers was also slow. Dlamini said teachers were yet to get posting letters and he encouraged those whose contracts expired not to report for duty until they were served with posting letters. Dlamini said SNAT was joining Education International and calling for the funding of quality education in public schools. He said this also meant that they shall be supporting government in ensuring that only qualified teachers were recruited.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, the SNAT SG said they shall deem schools not ready to open tomorrow as long as 4 000 teachers have not been recruited; teachers working with fixed term contracts not having contracts ; grants not paid; schools which were destroyed by storms not fixed. Vilakati said all these issues contributed to the smooth flow of operations in schools and if they were not addressed, schools were not ready to open. On the other hand, an effort to get a comment from the Ministry of Education and Training fell through. The ministry\u2019s principal secretary\u2019s phone rang unanswered from around 3pm until 5 pm.<\/p>\n

Also, the Minister of Education and Training Owen Nxumalo\u2019s phone rang unanswered. At the time this article was sent for print, the minister had not responded to a questionnaire which sought to establish if schools were ready to open tomorrow. Meanwhile, SNAT shall meet government over unpaid contract teachers today, according to Vilakati, who said all unpaid contract teachers should convene at the Ministry of Education and Training at 9am today, to get answers on the issue.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Eswatini<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Eswatini. Schools are not ready to open, according to the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT). SNAT held a press conference yesterday along with the Eswatini Schools Committee and Parents Association (ESCAPA) at the SNAT Centre, Manzini. Present during the briefing was the ESCAPA President, Cedric Chirwa, ESCAPA Deputy President Sisana Mamba, SNAT […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":42303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[234,248,249],"class_list":["post-42304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-eswatini","tag-eswatini"],"yoast_head":"\nSNAT: SCHOOLS NOT READY, 4 000 POSTS VACANT - Eswatini<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Schools are not ready to open, according to the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT). 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