By NONDUDUZO KUNENE | 2021-11-13

Days before the date set for opening of schools, pupils have been told the wait for them to return to class has been extended – by a whole week! As if that wait is not long enough, the new proposed date for the opening of schools is also a tentative one, which ones that it could also be changed before the final confirmation of when schools will be open.

Government confirmed yesterday that the opening of schools has now been shifted to a tentative date of November 23, 2021. The change of date was a resolution of a meeting held by the ministry of education and training (MoET) and stakeholders that included the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) and Eswatini Principal Association (ESWAPA), which ended with the proposal to delay the schools opening in the country.

Schools had been earmarked for opening on Tuesday, November 16. However, even before the meeting of the ministry and its stakeholders, parliament had thrown a spanner in the works when it demanded a report of the preparedness of the ministry to open schools which it wanted tabled in seven days.

This would have effectively meant having to delay the opening of schools until the tabling of the report in parliament, at the very least. As things stand, the ministry of education and training now has enough time to prepare the report for parliament and demonstrate its preparedness. That motion in parliament notwithstanding, the ministry and its stakeholders resolved to extend the opening of schools to enable it satisfy itself with certain other logistics.

“We decided to push the reopening date forward so that we can assess the damage caused by last week’s storm on top of the damage caused by unrests,” said principal secretary in the ministry of education and training Bhekithemba Gama.

Schools were closed prematurely last month after a wave of protests by pupils, which were accompanied by violence and the burning of infrastructure, Reason The principal secretary said the reason is that a team of Cabinet ministers has been tasked to visit schools next week to assess the damage caused by the recent storms.

He said it was important that government has a clear picture of the situation in the affected schools to know if it would be feasible to open schools. “After the assessment, government will let the public know when it is practical to open schools.

For now, stakeholders in the education fraternity have projected the tentative date for schools' reopening to be November 23, 2021,” he said. SNAT Deputy Secretary General Simanga Khumalo stated that other reasons that forced the postponement were the fact that government has not paid free primary education (FPE) and orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) grants. In the coming week government is expected to complete paying of grants to all schools in the country.

“The DPM's Office is expected to expedite the payment of grants by end of next week November 19, 2021,” he said. The stakeholders according to the teachers association also agreed that regional education officers (REOs) will continue holding meetings with schools’ committees and parents which would forge a way forward on the issues that were raised by learners during the protests.

This is because when learners were protesting they raised issues that concerned their schools apart from those that relate to the ministry of education. “Parents meetings are expected, to proceed this week and next week,” he added. Therefore for schools to open the stakeholders agreed that it was crucial for REOs to hold meetings with school committees and parents and address some of the issues that were raised by learners.

Yesterday during the meeting Khumalo said it was uncovered that REOs were not through with the school meetings hence it was agreed they complete them since they are pivotal in the smooth opening of schools. Some school properties were damaged during the wave of protests and the recent storms that hit the country last weekend. The stakeholders said there was need to assess the damage caused by these calamities before opening of schools.

It was also resolved that Cabinet would visit 17 schools deemed as hotspots during the riots, beginning today and then discuss its findings on Tuesday during Cabinet’s next sitting. --

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