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ENGLISH WAIVER NOT FOR FORM V?

22/02/2020 09:33:00 By Bonsile Makhubu

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MBABANE – Pupils doing Form V should pull up their socks as the ban of English Language as a passing subject does not apply to them.

This means if they do not perform very well in this subject they may idle at home and not qualify to enrol in tertiary institutions where passing the language is a prerequisite.

Last month, Education and Training Minister Lady Mabuza announced news regarded as good for some, while others feared the quality of education would dwindle.

She said the ministry had decided that pupils who may have not passed English language could still proceed to the next class.
She said this during the release of the Eswatini Primary Certificate and Junior Certificate results.

It transpired that this development saved about 3 000 pupils from repeating in only two classes, STD V and Form III.
When the Form V results came out, the ministry did not make a distinct statement regarding English Language.

This resulted to confusion among school leavers who had anticipated that tertiary institutions would waiver the entry requirements so that they would not be expected to have credited English in order to qualify.

This reporter spoke to a parent who said it was not clear if credits in English were a must for this transition.
He said he wondered if his son, who had struggled with the language, would be able to enrol at tertiary.
“The problem is that I have seen that students should have passed English in order to enrol at the university. I had hoped that this would change after the minister’s pronouncement.”

Minister Mabuza said English was never a passing subject in Form V.
“Nothing has changed in Form 5 and tertiary requirements still stand,” she said.

She said people should note that it was not government’s wish to compromise the quality of education in the country.
“English is still important and it shall be treated as such. If a pupil knows that they intend.