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NHLANGANO – Hosea schools resumed lessons smoothly on Tuesday, though the teachers say they need counselling.
They stated this yesterday during interviews where they were questioned on their ability to proceed with lessons after the demonstration by pupils who were commemorating a year since the arrest of the two Members of Parliament (MPs), Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube of Hosea and Ngwempisi, respectively.
The teachers narrated that they felt unsafe as they had to run for cover each time the pupils decided to protest.
“When there is a protest, we run away from the pupils yet we are as good as their parents when they are at school,” said a teacher from Hosea High School in an interview.
The teachers commented anonymously to avoid victimisation.
Some of the teachers further said they could not even reprimand the pupils as they feared being attacked after school or when they were on their own.
Meanwhile, teachers from the primary school shared the same sentiments, stating that it was unfortunate that they lived close by and that police were a bit far for help in the event they were attacked by the pupils.
They said the pupils, especially those from the high school, were uncontrollable once they started protesting, which was why they feared them.
The head teachers from the two schools stated that what they were experiencing was very traumatic and it was expected for the teachers to feel unsafe. Shiselweni Regional Education Officer Siboniso Gumbi said they would speak to the head teachers and arrange counselling sessions for the teachers. He said his office had counsellors who would be sent to the schools.
Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) General Secretary Sikelela Dlamini advised the teachers to remove themselves from an unsafe work environment as the law provided for that. He said a teacher’s role was to educate and if they felt they were unable to work safely, they were supposed to stay away from the unsafe environment.
“They should write a letter to their branch leaders so that drastic steps can be taken as we want them to be safe,” he said.