Siblings sell snacks, sweets for school fees, stationary
MAGUGA - For the love of school, three siblings have a ‘side hustle’ to assist them pay for their school fees. Though the siblings may be classified as orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC), they do not benefit from a social welfare fund under the Deputy Prime Minister’s (DPM) Office.
Many pupils in the country face financial challenges due to being orphaned or their parents being unemployed or not earning enough to support them. In some instances, some parents chose not to adhere to the responsibility of taking care of their children.
This reporter visited the three siblings home, where they live with their mother Thobile Dlamini and grandmother Martha Kunene.
Their mother said she was unemployed and that she lived with her mother. She said she had not been able to take care of her children.
Dlamini said two of her children are in high school while the third was still in primary school. She said school fees were not required for the youngest as she benefitted from the free primary education (FPE) grant.
However, she said the older girls needed stationery which she paid for using cash.
Dlamini revealed that since she was unemployed, her children helped supplement the family income. She said her son, who is doing Form III, sold sweets, biscuits and snacks.
She said through his small business, her son was able to pay school fees. “He buys uniforms, shoes and then pays for school fees,” said Dlamini. She said her older daughter also sold sweets to her friends but was not as successful as her brother.
Worried
Dlamini said she was worried because soon, her children would be removed from the school they were at due to non-payment of school fees. She said the school’s head teacher was lenient and allowed her children to learn even though they had not yet paid school fees, in hope that they would soon be able to do so.
Kunene, the grandmother to the children, said she was also equally concerned that the children may not be able to continue their education, especially the girls. She said she was also unemployed and that there was no way she could afford to pay school fees.
When both the mother and Kunene were asked if they were aware that their children could register with the Social Welfare Department under the DPM’s Office, they said they did not know how to go about this.
The two women said they had previously gone to the local umphakatsi but they had not been able to apply for the social welfare grant, resulting in the children failing to get assistance from the DPM’s Office.
Noteworthy, the problem of parents struggling to pay school fees is a nationwide problem.
Suicide
On Thursday, our sister publication reported that about 120 pupils around Matsapha were not in school due to the lack of school fees. It was also reported that about 40 of the children, who were out of school from Matsapha, ended up attempting suicide.
Around Matsapha, it was reported that a majority of the parents had reportedly lost their jobs, citing various reasons. This was revealed by Eswatini Family Care and Wellness Organisation Director Sibusiso Makhanya.
Eswatini Family Care and Wellness Organisation is a non-governmental organisation that seeks to help families deal with psychosocial challenges in society.
Worth noting is that the situation of the 40 children was revealed against the backdrop of the rise in the number of applications for the orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) grants. Over 100 000 are said to have applied for OVC grants necessitating the government to have a budget of over E195 million.