FPE DYSFUNCTIONAL, LET PARENTS PAY - COMMITTEES

MANZINI – Bring back children to their parents, and let them pay for the pupils’ education and meals in schools. These were the emotional words of members of school committees who were adamant that   government had failed to cater for pupils in schools following the introduction of the Free Primary Education (FPE) programme.

Most school committees are made up of parents. They said despite the shortcomings that were evident in  schools and experienced in recent months, the Ministry of  Education and Training failed  to admit that the  programme was a non starter.
They demanded that the ministry should let them cater for all their children’s needs as the current state of affairs has resulted in the depreciating of education standards in the country. This transpired during a meeting between school committees and head teachers yesterday at Prince Mfanyana Hall. It was organised by the Swaziland Principal Association (SWAPA). The sole aim of the meeting was to get their views on the ongoing food crisis in schools following delayed payments by government.

The school committees, which were represented by chairpersons, said government introduced Free Primary Education (FPE) in Grade I and II in 2010 and it rolled it out to Grade VII. They said when introducing the programme, government took the right and responsibility to educate their children.

“Seemingly, with the current food crisis in schools and delayed payments of the FPE money, which have seen pupils starving and teachers running short of teaching equipment, government is failing to take care of the children. On the same not, government is failing to come out clear to state that it was facing challenges,” they said this left them with no choice but to call upon government to give the parents the right and responsibility to educate and take care of their children so that they could get the quality education they deserve.

The schools committees clarified that by this, they were not saying government should stop pumping in the money it was paying to schools but continue supporting them.
In fact, they called for government to also bring back top-up fees in schools. Their argument was that with the assistance which government was putting in as FPE money, it should then let the parents and schools decide what was best for the children.

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