Swazi Observer

FULL STORY

PAC TO FOLLOW UP ON POSTS FOR SALE AT TSC

By Mbono Mdluli | 2019-06-19

The Public Accounts Committee is expected to follow up on the issue of teaching posts that are said to be sold at the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) in Mbabane.

Gege MP Musa Kunene, when sought on the matter, said such a matter had reached them as members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). He was speaking in his capacity as vice chairperson of the PAC.

“We have heard that posts are being sold at TSC. It is said that if you want to be a school principal you pay around E25 000. In rural areas, we are told that interested candidates are made to pay about E5 000,” Kunene said.

He further stated that they would make a follow up on the matter in order to get to the bottom of these reports.

The alleged sale of the teaching posts is said to be orchestrated by one officer within the ministry of education and training.

However, the name of the mentioned officer will not be revealed for now because the matter has still not been investigated. Other officers from the human resources department of the TSC are said to be involved in this practice.

Sources close to the matter have confided to this publication that the rates at which these posts were sold were different. For instance, posts for school principals were going at E25 000, according to one source who told this publication.

Post for deputy principals are said to cost around E15 000. Another source, when asked about the matter, stated that he was informed that the rates were also informed by the four administrative regions of the country.

They were also informed by areas’ accessibility to basic human needs like water, transport, accessibility to urban areas, etc.

“I have heard what you are talking about and the practice is alleged to be rife within the TSC. Even the posts are not charged at one rate. It depends on the teaching position and the area in which you are going to teach.

The most expensive post is that allocated for urban areas because it is believed that urban areas are easily accessible and have the basic human needs like water and transport. Even posts allocated for areas that are not easily accessible are said to be sold at TSC, but those are charged at a lesser fee than the rest,” said the source.

However, the source said he could not reveal the exact prices, fearing that he could confuse the rates because they were different. Another insider said she knew that a well-known officer was very instrumental in the sale of the posts and this was not good at all, according to the insider. She said there were many qualified teachers who were still unemployed and were looking to be employed within the teaching profession. The qualified unemployed teachers were let down by the corrupt practice that allegedly took place within the TSC.

A third source who was contacted on the matter also confided that he was once told that he had to fork out E5 000 because the person for whom he was looking for a job was to teach in a rural area in the northern part of the country.

The source even managed to obtain an employment letter from the human resources department of the TSC.

Ministry of Education Principal Secretary Dr Sibongile Mtshali and the TSC executive secretary could not be reached for comment on the matter.

None of them picked up their phones when called on the matter.

share story