Times Of Swaziland: INSPECTORS DISPATCHED AS SOME TEACHERS DEFY GOVERNMENT ORDER

INSPECTORS DISPATCHED AS SOME TEACHERS DEFY GOVERNMENT ORDER
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Thembinkosi Mavimbela on 12/09/2018 09:41:00


MBABANE – Contrary to the Ministry of Education and Training’s directive for
teachers to report for duty, some ignored it yesterday, resulting in government
dispatching inspectors.
Some teachers did not report for duty yesterday as per their vow last week that
they would instead attend branch meetings organised by their union, the
Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT). In some schools around the
capital city, which were visited yesterday by reporters from this publication,
some pupils were found loitering around school premises, while others attended
classes. At around 11:10am, some pupils were found making their way home after
they were turned back by their teachers. This was the case with KaSchiele
Primary School, where pupils were found walking to town, while others played
games on the road side. The head teacher was not found at the school as he had
reportedly gone to the regional education office (REO).
“We had to send pupils home because there is no water at the school,” one
employee of the school said. Noticeably, some teachers were seen hanging their
dripping wet clothes on washing lines at their quarters, which is within the
school premises. Interestingly, there was a voice clip that did the rounds on
social media platform WhatsApp from Monday, requesting teachers not to set foot
in staffrooms but rather do their laundry or other home chores. Meanwhile,
classes seemed to be proceeding as normal at KaSchiele High School, as there
were no pupils loitering around. While others were in their respective
classrooms, some were seen preparing to water the school garden. Attempts to
have an interview with the head teacher and deputy head teacher were
unsuccessful, as they were reportedly in a meeting. The same was the case with
KaBoyce High School, Woodlands High School and Mbabane Central High School where
pupils were found in their classrooms. In all the aforementioned schools, some
teachers were seen conducting lessons.
One of the head teachers interviewed yesterday said some teachers were present,
while others went to the meeting organised by SNAT. The head teacher, whose name
will be deliberately withheld, said most of the teachers who were not at the
school attended the meeting during their free periods. He said as head teachers,
they could not stop teachers from attending SNAT meetings. He said they left it
to them to decide whether to attend such meetings or not.