Primary textbooks, food not delivered – SNAT
MBABANE – Government has not delivered textbooks and food to primary schools.
Efforts to save schools from spending more on transport resulted in a bumpy start of the academic calendar, and delays in payment of free primary education (FPE) grants of the previous year caused a hurdle for many rural schools.
Schools opened on January 24, 2023 and there has been several complaints from head teachers that they could not properly manage and operate the schools due to the non-payment of FPE grants and lack of teachers, among a litany of other issues. Minister of Education and Training Lady Mabuza, told reporters when delivering her back to school message that government would start delivering food to schools in the second week of February. The ministry partnered with the National Emergency Response Council on HIV and AIDS (NERCHA) in buying and delivering food to schools in the country.
Secretary General (SG) of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT), Lot Vilakati, said after three weeks of schools’ opening, some schools were struggling to carry out teaching because government had not yet delivered textbooks to the schools.
“Schools do not have Grade I to V textbooks,” he said.
Vilakati added that teachers were struggling to conduct lessons. He highlighted that even head teachers stated that they were struggling to resume lesson with the existing textbooks because there were new books that were introduced by the Curriculum Centre. Adding to the issue was the delivery of food for the schools feeding schemes.
“Schools do not have food even today,” Vilakati said.
Several factors are said to have delayed the delivery of food and textbooks to schools. Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Education and Training Bhekithemba Gama acknowledge the delay in delivering food to government schools in the country. He highlighted that the process of delivering the food started from purchasing of the food by their partner, NERCHA. He explained that their partner had to get the funds to buy the food from government.
The PS mentioned that on their part as a ministry, they had done everything possible to start the process. This included the finalising of paperwork and further submitting it to the Treasury Department in the Ministry of Finance. He said the process was in the Ministry of Finance and he was not in a position to state when the food for the schools feeding schemes would be delivered.
“We haven’t received any communiqué from NERCHA regarding deliveries,” Gama said.
In the meantime, some schools are feeding pupils with food that was left from last year. In schools that do not have leftovers, parents and teachers have to figure out what to feed the children.
Some other elements of the FPE include the distribution of free stationery, teaching and learning materials like textbooks, workbooks and exercise books.
The government, also provides grants that cover schools’ operational costs such as school fees, feeding and running administrative duties.
On the delivery of textbooks, Gama mentioned that government encountered transportation challenges but he was hopeful that by tomorrow, all schools would have received the textbooks. He mentioned that they were supposed to have started the delivery but the wet weather conditions made it difficult for them. He stated that some of their vehicles would not be able to navigate some of the roads while others were open vans. The PS stated that they approached the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to assist them with transport.
“Starting from tomorrow (meaning today), vehicles will be all over the country delivering textbooks, which I believe by Friday, all schools would have received them,” he said.
Worth noting, last year, due to escalating food prices that were caused by the Russian-Ukraine conflict, government struggled to keep schools feeding schemes afloat.