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MANZINI - The political unrest, which manifests during night time, is adversely affecting pupils who are currently sitting for their external examinations, SNAT has observed.
Secretary General (SG) of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT), Lot Vilakati said educators who were willing to go the extra mile and assist pupils with revision exercises at night, would not be able to do so as it would compromise their safety, as well as that of the pupils.
The SNAT SG said despite the fact that though government refused to pay them overtime they were willing to go the extra mile to help the pupils.
He said though the Ministry of Education and Training told them not to teach extra hours, some educators had all along been assisting pupils with their studies at night.
On account of the volatile political climate, Vilakati said they had since encouraged their members to prioritise their safety and that of the pupils by staying home at night.
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He said as teachers, they had taken into consideration that pupils spent less time in class this year, as the academic year started in April 2022, thus they were willing to assist them in their studies after hours. He recalled that, as teachers, their goal was to see their pupils excelling in the external examination, which is why the current situation was also saddening to them.
“This will definitely affect this year’s external examination results,” the SG said.
The current, situation, according to Vilakati, was demoralising in that it came at a time when their employer failed to negotiate the issue of the cost-of-living adjustment (CoLA) for the 2022/23 financial year in good faith with public sector unions (PSUs). Instead, he said the employer pushed the three per cent salary adjustment plus a once off payment of one per cent of their annual salaries, down their throats.
It is worth noting that Form V pupils had already started writing their examination - Eswatini General Certificate of Secondary Education (EGCSE), but it was postponed last week due to the protest action, which saw public transport workers downing tools. A such, new dates for the examination papers, which were shifted last week have been set and are accessible via the Eswatini Examination Council of Eswatini (ECESWA) website; www.examscouncil.org.sz.
Meanwhile, efforts to get a comment
2022 ACADEMIC YEAR AND HOW IT WAS AMENDED
Term 1:
Commencement of 2022 academic year: April 5, 2022
Mid-term break: June 23
2022
Resumption of classes: June 28, 2022 (amended to July 5, 2022)
End of Term 1: August 19, 2022 - 27,
Term 2:
Commencement of Term 2: 7, 2022
Mid-term break:
2022
Resumption of classes: November 1, 2022(lessons were disrupted by protest actions on November 15 and 16, 2022)
End of 2022 academic year: 22, 2022
September
October 27- 31,
December
from the Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Education and Training, Bhekithemba Gama proved to be futile as his cellphone was not available on MTN Eswatini at the time of compiling this report.