MPs playing to the gallery

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)7(5 a week of high drama in the august House, a circular banning head teachers from sending home pupils with outstanding school fees was issued.

What remains to be seen now is if school administrators will abide by it.

That is the thrust of my message today. As parents, we have been taken for a ride quite a few times by both the Ministry of Education and Training and the House of Assembly.

We have previously been excited over resolutions that turned out to be just water on a duck’s back. Parliament has a tendency to blow hot and cold over a topical issue, only to forget about it and move onto other issues when the executive arm of government decides to stand its ground. A case in point is the payment of school fees for the 202 academic year.

Readers will recall that this particular drama began with the advent of C2VID- in early 202 .

Many countries went on lockdown to contain the virus.

As expected, schools had to close abruptly.

In Eswatini, pupils spent a better part of the year at home, with attempts aimed at having them learn through digital platforms failing to have the desired outcome.

Most parents had paid school fees in part or in full when schools closed in March 2020.

2nly the completing grades were allowed to go back to class around -uly of that year. It was against that background that when schools finally reopened for 202 , exactly a year after the March 2020 closure, parents refused to pay school fees.

Government wanted them to pay for the 202 year as if nothing had happened. The argument was that money paid for 2020 had been spent on electricity, payment of support staff and other school expenses.

Parliament took the parents side and a parliament resolution was passed, instructing the Ministry of Education and Training to stop demanding payment of fees for the 202 year.

In fact, parents who had already paid were supposed to get refunds because schools were expected to make do with the money paid for the previous year.

Parents were ecstatic and full of praise for Members of Parliament (MPs), who seemed to be steadfast in forcing government to be fair to them.

Minister of Education Lady Mabuza, did not have a problem aligning herself with the Parliament resolution and issued a public warning to school administrators to stop demanding fees from parents who had paid for the wasted 2020 academic year.

It is now history that this parliamentary resolution and subsequent announcement from the minister were totally ignored by heads of schools.

I would be surprised if there was even one parent or guardian who was refunded.

Instead, administrators demanded fees for the 202 year. Parents who had hoped Parliament would ensure that its resolution was adhered to were disappointed. They eventually had to pay and life went on.

More recently, there was a complain when schools closed for the 202 academic year, which ended in March 2022. Government decided that schools would only be closed for two weeks before commencement of the 2022 academic year.

Parents had to settle outstanding fees for 202 and be ready with deposits for the 2022 year in just 0 working days. It was an impossible task for many low-income and middle-income parents, many of whom had been hit hard, economically, by the coronavirus.

The Eswatini Broadcasting and Information Services (EBIS) radio station was inundated by parents calling on government to be a bit sensitive to their financial position.

I think I recall listening to one lady, as I was driving to work, complaining that the school where her children went had demanded E 000 deposit for each of her three children.

That was a staggering E 000 in deposits alone, which she had to come up with in just two weeks after settling 202 school fees.

At least on this one, Parliament did not give parents any false hope.

However, the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) was also unhappy with the reopening of schools for a new year, just a couple of weeks after the end of the previous one.

Still, government went ahead with the reopening, throwing parents, pupils and teachers into great confusion. As we speak, some parents have not been able to raise enough money for the deposits, resulting in their children staying out of school. Life goes on for members of both Cabinet and Parliament.

The only time parents came out tops in a disagreement with government was last year, when they were ordered to sign consent forms for their children to return to class after the -une -uly riots. Parents were expected to agree that they would ensure their children did not participate in class boycotts and if they did, they (parents) would pay for any damage to infrastructure.

Parents achieved this feat without the assistance of Parliament, which is a tell-tale sign in itself.

The bottom line is that government rarely ever listens to Parliament.

That is why I believe the motion to prevent head teachers from sending pupils home over unpaid school fees was stillborn from the very beginning. At the end of the day, school administrators will do what they think will work for them.

Despite issuing a memo in line with that motion, the Ministry of Education will not be of much help if head teachers decide to be defiant.

My advice to MPs is for them to work towards gaining recognition as an effective and respected arm of government. They should stop the grandstanding and playing to the gallery.

A good place for Parliament to flex its muscles would be to seriously question the recruitment of more soldiers when the country is not at war.

They should move motions demanding a full report on why Eswatini needs more soldiers while hundreds of qualified teachers and nurses are jobless, yet many public schools and almost all hospitals are understaffed.

MPs should demand an end to the perpetual shortage of medical drugs in hospital and be resolute in holding to account any government official found to be responsible for this dereliction of duty.