EDUCATION FOR ALL: WHAT’S THE PLAN?

Sir,

Just a few years ago, our government showed that it was determined to make available education for all emaSwati children by introducing the free primary education (FPE) grants.

For a country like ours where poverty has ruled for years, such a decision was good. Because of the FPE, we have thousands of children who can now read and write instead of languishing at home with no education.
Had government not introduced the FPE, thousands of children would have become thugs because they would have nothing to do.That is why the recent reports that the EU has stopped sponsoring the FPE programme are disturbing to say the least and I wish our government would negotiate with the organisation.

Losing the EU is not good because our government does not have the financial muscle to provide the FPE grants.
Already, government is having challenges paying civil servants because its wage bill is just too high.

While the provision of the FPE grants is commendable as it ensures education for all, I do feel that as nation we need to know the plan of how things will be done in the next 10 or 20 years.
The children that are enjoying the FPE now, what will happen when they get to high school and eventually tertiary? Who will pay for them?

Implementing

I have also heard that government is also in the process of implementing the policy that will ensure that there are no failures especially in primary school and those who will be regarded as having failed classes would be those pupils who absented themselves and could not make it to class due to reasons beyond their control. This is another good initiative but again, it leaves us with a lot of questions than answers. My view is that if there are no failures in primary school, it would mean that more, if not all, pupils will go to secondary the result of which will be full classes.

It is a fact that in most areas, especially in the rural areas, there are a few schools. Those schools that are available, you find that they have too many challenges including lack of infrastructure or lack of enough classes.Now, since we will not have failures, there is a need to have a proper plan of where the thousands of pupils will be accommodated.

Accommodate

It will be no use making our children pass when there will be no classes to accommodate them in secondary school.
Also, after they have completed high school, there is a need to check if there will be no challenges when they try to enroll in tertiary institutions.

This can be done by making the courses offered smooth and relevant enough to accommodate them. I therefore plead with our government to look into these things so that our country can go forward. I am aware that we do have an existing education policy but there is a need to check if its provisions will make the lives of our children better.

Sizwe Matsebula

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