WE’LL BAN OTHER RELIGIONS IN SCHOOLS – PM

KAKHOLWANE – Swaziland made a mistake by allowing other religions other than Christianity to be taught in local schools.

Prime Minister (PM) Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini said this to the amusement of pastors from the Shiselweni region at a Christmas party.
Dlamini said Cabinet was already working on the strategies and policies to ban other religions, saying it was important to create a base of Christianity among children as this was the main religion of Swaziland.
“We have since realised the mistake that we made and now it is time to correct it,” said the prime minister.

He said other religions could only be introduced at a later stage, like at tertiary level, when the children already had Christianity cemented in their minds.
Other religions that have since been included in the schools’ syllabus include Islam, Judaism and the Baha’i faith, to mention but a few.

The premier was guest speaker in the event that was held at the residence of Simanga Mamba, an attorney who is also Chairman of the Teaching Service Commission (TSC).
He requested pastors all over the country to prepare hard for this move as he said it would not be an easy one.
“In other countries, other religions are not taught in schools, but only the main one that the country subscribes to,” he said.

He said the office of the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) was also assisting with the process.
Section 23 of the Constitution of Swaziland states that a person has a right to freedom of thought, conscience or religion.
“Except with the free consent of that person, a person shall not be hindered in the enjoyment of the freedom of conscience, and for the purposes of this section, freedom of conscience includes freedom of thought and of religion, freedom to change religion or belief, and freedom of worship either alone or in community with others.”

It further states that a religious community is entitled to establish and maintain places of education and to
manage any place of education which that community wholly maintains, and that community may not be prevented from providing religious instruction for persons of that community in the course of any education provided at any place of education which that community wholly maintains or in the course of any education which that community otherwise provides.

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