BLAME GAME AS ORPHANS FORCED TO DROP OUT OF SCHOOL

NHLANGANO - The future of thousands of orphaned and vulnerable children is in limbo as some of them have been kicked out of school due to the lack of personal identification numbers (PINS).

PINS have become an important requirement for them to have, especially before they write exams.
Many orphaned and vulnerable pupils are said to have left school after the office of Home Affairs in Nhlangano failed to assist them, as they could not produce their late parents’ birth and death certificates.

Shiselweni Regional Administrator Themba Masuku confirmed that pupils have come to his office and seek assistance in getting their PINS. This was after they were not successful at the Nhlangano Home Affairs Department.

Government has been accused of failing to follow the Children’s Protection Act, it adopted in 2012, which seeks to improve the lives of Swazi children.

Interviewed officers from the Nhlangano Home Affairs Department sounded shocked when informed by this reporter that there is a law, which compels the State to register orphaned and vulnerable children.

“We did not know that we have to register children who do not have any documentation,” said one female before adding with hostility that they would not assist them if they did not have the required documentation.
Social workers said government was contravening the 2012 laws that protect children and promote their wellbeing. The Children, Protection and Welfare Act states; “A child has a right to be registered within three months of birth whether a child is alive or still born.”

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