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DON’T PANIC – MINISTER

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MANZINI – The Minister of Education and Training, Dr Phineas Magagula says his ministry’s legal department is in talks with their South African counterparts to allow Matric pupils studying locally to continue with the syllabus.


This follows concerns from parents of pupils enrolled for the National Senior Certificate, commonly referred to as Matric, after it emerged that Department of Basic Education in South Africa (SA) wanted the syllabus stopped in Swaziland.


The SA department wrote a letter to the local ministry, informing it about the decision, something which has caused panic among parents who questioned schools offering this syllabus on why they were not informed about the latest developments.


Magagula revealed that it was not the first time a letter announcing the termination of the Matric syllabus in the country was sent to the ministry.   “Such letters date as far back as 2012, but we have always been able to engage with the Department of Basic Education in South Africa and found solutions to allow pupils to write their matric exams without frustrating them and the parents.


“We are currently involved in the same process with the department where the Memorandum of Agreement is being fixed,” said Magagula in an interview.
A letter dated September 28, 2016 titled ‘Phasing out of the offering of the National Senior Certificate (NSC) Examination in Swaziland and anywhere outside the borders of the Republic of South Africa,’ was sent to the Ministry of Education. This letter stated that Swaziland and neighbouring countries had only three years left to continue offering the Matric syllabus in their education systems.   
The minister said his ministry had already written a letter to the Department of Education in South Africa, requesting that they adjust their regulations in order to allow matriculants in Swaziland to write their exams without any frustrations.

 


Magagula further expressed his disappointment at how the news was communicated to the relevant people, resulting in a lot of confusion within the ministry, schools and parents whose children are enrolled in schools that offer Matric. 

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