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By SIFISO DLAMINI AND BODWA MBINGO | 2023-01-12
The ministry of education and training has postponed the opening of schools to January 24 following consideration of the delayed release of the Junior Certificate (JC) and Eswatini Primary Certificate (EPC) results.
Schools were initially scheduled to open on Tuesday.
The postponement was announced by Minister of Education and Training, Lady Howard-Mabuza, during the release of the EPC and JC results yesterday.
The minister had earlier announced that government had considered postponing the opening of schools.
She acknowledged that there were challenges regarding the writing of examinations, which were periodically interrupted due to the prevailing political situation in the country.
Mabuza said this also resulted in the delayed release of the results.
She said the ministry and the Examinations Council tried by all means to fast-track the marking and release of the results in time to allow parents to prepare for the opening of schools.
“Following engagements with relevant stakeholders, the ministry has resolved to postpone the opening of schools from next Tuesday to Tuesday January 24, 2023,” said Mabuza.
The minister further stated that government was in the process of facilitating the payment of free primary education and OVC grants in preparation for schools opening. Mabuza said this was in collaboration with the ministry of finance.
She said the postponement of the opening of schools would allow government more time to finalise the payment of the grants.
hope
“As a ministry, all we know is that the ministry of finance through the treasury department is continuing with the payment of the grants and hope this will be completed before schools open,” she said.
With regards to feeding schemes, Mabuza said the ministry was also confident that by the time schools open, food would be delivered to all schools in the country.
The announcement will come as a relief for parents as they had pleaded with government to postpone the opening of schools by at least a week to grant them ample time to secure spaces as this was not an easy task.
Secretary General of Eswatini School Committees and Parents Association, Cyprian Dlamini said this would also allow parents time to secure spaces for their children who sat for the external examinations and government to address some of the issues that have been raised by the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT).
Meanwhile, Eswatini Principals Association (EPA) President Welcome Mhlanga welcomed the postponement and said this would grant them enough time to register new pupils, as well as allow parents sufficient time to pay school fees, which usually takes about a week to finalise.
Mhlanga said it was not easy for them to comment on the matter prior to the official announcement by government because the release of the results was delayed.
“We will only be able to get the results today, which means parents can only collect their children’s results on Monday, which would not have been enough time,” he said.
Adding, he said this would have frustrated all those involved as they would not have had enough time to prepare.
He said it was better for pupils who had already been registered and admitted, but it would not have been the case for those who were still waiting for their results.
“As much as we were prepared to do the best we can, we welcome the decision by government as it will give all involved enough time,” said Mhlanga.
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