Swazi Observer

FULL STORY

PREGNANCY, DAGGA DEALING FORCE SOME PUPILS TO MISS EXAMS

By BONGIWE DLAMINI | 2024-12-27

A total of 513 pupils, who were doing Grade VII and Form III, did not sit for the 2024 examinations as some got pregnant while others turned to dagga dealing.

These reasons were revealed by Director of Education Dr Tholakele Mngometulu when asked for reasons for the pupils’ absenteeism during the examination period.

According to statistics announced by Minister of Education and Training Owen Nxumalo, a total of 16 513 candidates sat for the 2024 Junior Certificate (JC) examination while 356 learners were absent and did not write the exam.

This was a decrease from the 520 absentees that were recorded in 2023.
In the 2024 Eswatini Primary Certificate (EPC) examination, Nxumalo said there were 157 absentees, which was a decrease from the 237 that were recorded in the previous year.

Otherwise, a total of 29 478 candidates sat for the EPC examination this year.
Overall, 513 pupils did not sit for this year’s examinations while 757 did not write the JC and EPC exams in 2023.

When responding to a question on where the absent children were, Dr Mngometulu said there were several factors for this. One of them, she said, was teenage pregnancy where female pupils fall pregnant and drop out of school as a result.

She also stated that peer pressure of the learners sometimes caused some to dump school and resort to making quick cash through growing dagga.

“Sometimes, lack of resources where parents fail to pay for their children’s school fees caused the pupils not to get through the year to the point of writing their final examination,” stated Mngometulu.

Even so, she stated that the ministry was working on ensuring that the pupils who dropped out of school were retained.

“The guidance and counselling department was doing constant follow-ups on these children, who dropped out of school to ensure that they return to class.

Statistics
‘‘However, this cannot be achieved in one day,” Mngometulu stated.
In addition, the minister of education and training expressed that these statistics were alarming more so because government had paid fees for orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) and for those who were in primary schools through the free primary education (FPE) grant.

He said all stakeholders, including the ministry, teachers, parents, and community members, were to blame for the high number of pupils who dropped out of school.

Nxumalo said all these stakeholders needed to play their roles in ensuring that children obtained education by remaining in school.

He also mentioned that these needed to help reprimand, guide and support the children so that the latter could see the value of education.

“These statistics show how much of the tax payers’ money has been thrown down the drain after the learners whose fees were paid for by government dropped out of school during the course of the year,” asserted Nxumalo.

He further thanked the Examinations Council of Eswatini (ECESWA) for providing such statistics, which he said would help government follow up on these learners.

The minister charged regional education officers (REOs) with the task of visiting the schools from which the 513 pupils dropped out to find ways to have them back in class.

Govt to disburse FPE, OVC grants on time next year

It is the ministry of education and training’s New Year’s resolution to disburse the Free Primary Education (FPE) and Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVC) grants on time going forward.

Minister of Education and Training Owen Nxumalo conceded that delaying in disbursing these funds and delivering food on time had negative repercussions on the overall academic performance of learners.

The minister, when asked about the effects of government’s delay in affording the schools these resources said, “I cannot be defensive on this subject.

The delay in payments of the OVC and FPE grants has negative effects on the overall academic results.

“If we fail to make payments on time, how else do we expect schools to function?
‘‘His Majesty King Mswati III charged us with the responsibilities of this ministry and allocated resources for us to carry out our duties,” emphasised Nxumalo.

Operations
He said going forward the ministry needed to work hard in ensuring smooth operations in schools.

In this regard, the minister said he had already made enquiries on whether headteachers had submitted the requisite paperwork to the ministry.

“This is to check if the issues resulting in the delays arise from the headteachers’ late submission of the paperwork or they are within the ministry of finance.

‘‘Otherwise, we have gathered that previously, the late disbursement of funds was caused by headteachers’ failure to submit the required paperwork on time,” said Nxumalo.

Further, the minister apologised to the nation for the ministry’s shortcomings in the past year and promised that his ministry would do better in 2025 and beyond.

Minister happy with best
performing Manzini schools

“It looks like I’ll have to slaughter some cattle here.”
This was a comment by the ecstatic Minister of Education and Training Owen Nxumalo when he announced that the top performing Form III pupils most of whom were from Manzini schools.

When the minister announced the overall best performer, Fanele Bongiwe Methula of St Michael’s High School, he jokingly said the learner, who obtained an impressive 97 per cent, was from Manzini South where he is also a member of parliament.

The second best pupil in the junior certificate (JC) exam is Tiyandza Melokuhle Ndlovu from St Theresa’s High School, who obtained aggregate 96 per cent. When announcing her name, the minister comically emphasised that her school was under his constituency, much to the amusement of those present.

As if to defend himself from the chuckles, the minister said, “I’m only reading names that are on this list,” and attracted more reactions from those who attended the press briefing. His little comments of satisfaction as he announced six more names of learners from schools under the Manzini region did not go unnoticed.

Before he read names of learners from other schools, the minister said, “We gave them a chance here,” then proceeded to call out the names and schools.

‘Rehabilitation of schools priority’

Government will focus on rehabilitating schools that were damaged by storms before schools open in January next year.

Minister of Education and Training Owen Nxumalo said this exercise would be government’s priority. However, when asked if government would assure the public that all the schools would be renovated by January, the minister was coy and refrained from making any commitment in this regard.

“Our intention is to rehabilitate the schools that were damaged by the storms. This is our priority and we will put more effort towards making this happen,” he stated.

During the storm that was experienced in the country on December 5, a total of 12 schools were damaged around the country. Rehabilitating these, according to a report by the ministry, will cost government over E7 million. In October, 14 schools were damaged by storms.

Teaching profession deserves some respect

Minister of Education and Training Owen Nxumalo says the teaching profession needs to be respected.

He said government was dedicated to doing this by ceasing hiring educators on a contract basis.
He said it was unfair that some teachers had been on contract for over 10 years.

He noted that since there was no other civil servant who had ever worked on contract basis for so long, teachers deserved to be hired permanently as well.

In the same breath, the minister stated that until a budget was allocated for the permanent employment of teachers, government would continue with the current system save for cases where the ministry of public service announces posts.

The minister said this when asked why they continued with the contract placements.
Before this, the minister said to prepare for next year’s smooth start of the academic calendar, the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) had been tasked to renew expired teachers’ contracts on time.

He added that his ministry, in collaboration with that of public service, would deploy investigators to schools to ascertain the statistics of teachers, whether there are shortages of teachers or there is overstaffing.

“Since the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) has still not submitted a breakdown of the 4 000 teachers it had requested to be hired, the right-sizing team will help us in this regard,” stated Nxumalo.

Additionally, the minister said the right-sizing team would make their reports before the end of this month.

“Their findings will also help us ascertain the number of teachers, who have been working on contracts for a long time so that when posts are released they could be given first preference,” Nxumalo said.

share story