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TSC BOSS TURNS TABLES ON PS STEWART

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MBABANE – Principal Secretary Bertram Stewart could have shot himself in the foot when he ‘exposed’ the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) when he appeared before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

The accusations that the PS made against the Commission, which include irregular hiring and promotion of teachers, irregular demotion and reinstatement of head teachers and negligence that resulted in government losing substantial amounts of money, have boomeranged.TSC Chairman Simanga Mamba, who is a lawyer by profession, has since written to PAC Chairman Phila Buthelezi – the Deputy Speaker - in response to the accusations that were levelled against the Commission by PS Stewart and his officials from the Ministry of Education and Training.

Responsibility

Mamba, in his response, sought to clarify the presentation by the PS, which he said was viewed by the Commission as shifting blame and responsibility to it. He drew a distinction between the Commission (commissioners), which is appointed in terms of Section 172 of the Constitution, and the Secretariat; stating that reference to the Commission refers to the five members appointed as such.

Section 172 states that “the Public Service of Swaziland shall be administered through service commissions or similar bodies established under this Constitution or any other law”. 

He outlined that the functions of the Commission shall include appointments (including promotions and transfers) and selection of candidates for appointment, confirmation of appointments, termination of appointments, disciplinary control and removal from office of officers within the public service or any sector of the public service. 

“All operations are dealt with by the Secretariat who are supervised by the Principal Secretary. The Secretariat prepares the agenda and it is presented to the Commission for discussions and approval,” Mamba wrote.

He told the PAC that the entire Secretariat, which comprises the executive secretary, deputy executive secretary, legal advisor, legal officer, human resource officers, accountants and registry clerical officers are employed by the Ministry of Education and Training, not the Commission.

Attribution

“These officers are under the supervision of the Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Training, and not the Commission. Therefore, the constant attribution of inefficiency to the commission is misdirected and unfortunate,” Mamba said. He said it was the ministry, through the PS, that has the authority to supervise, employ and recommend for promotion and to also discipline the Secretariat. “Therefore, any inefficiency by the Secretariat to perform their duties and or acts of misconduct should not be shifted to the Commission, as it is an administrative issue that should be dealt with by the ministry,” the TSC boss stated.

He said the issue of failure to stop salaries of certain teachers, as raised by the auditor general in his report, did not fall within the mandate of the Commission nor was it one of its functions.

“The Commission is not involved in the operations with regard to remuneration of teachers, these are operational matters which are within the domain of the Ministry of Education,” Mamba said.

The veracity of the TSC boss’ letter is yet to be tested by the parliamentary committee. 

He said furthermore, the accounts section that is tasked with remuneration of teachers did not fall under the supervision of the Commission but under the Ministry of Education and Training; and that the remuneration f teachers was a function budgeted by the ministry.

Functions

He therefore implored the PAC to differentiate between the Commission and the functions of the officers of the ministry who are stationed in the Commission.

“Any inefficiency or any misdemeanours by the officers should not be attributed to the Commission, but to the ministry where they are employed and supervised, which is the principal secretary’s office and the Under Secretary Administration,” Mamba said.

The chairman went on to address the other issues that arose during the PS’ appearance before the PAC, which include the transfer of teachers, where concern was expressed on the manner in which such transfers are determined.

In response, Mamba said: “The Ministry of Education has a committee which includes Regional Education Officers (REOs), Human Resource Officers, and chaired by Schools Manager Under Secretary, who make recommendations to the Commission for teachers to be considered for transfer.” He moved on to address the issue of promotion of teachers, which the PAC took a substantial amount of time discussing with the PS. Stewart told the PAC that he had already asked the TSC to prepare a procedure manual to guide the hiring and promotion of teachers.

In tackling thus issue, the TSC chairman said: “Candidates apply for promotion and are shortlisted by a shortlisting committee which comprises of officers from the Ministry of Education (Director Education, Schools Manager Under Secretary, and Chief Inspector). Shortlisted candidates are then presented to the Commission for interviews.”

Mamba also addressed the issue of disciplinary action against teachers, for which the TSC was taken to task for, among other things, the non-involvement of the executive secretary whenever disciplinary hearings were heard.

Disciplinary

Responding to this, the chairman said: “The schools manager is responsible for the disciplinary of teachers in terms of Regulation 15, initiates disciplinary process, once the matter has been fully investigated it is then forwarded to the Commission for a hearing.”       

Another issue that came up before the PAC was the reinstatement of demoted teachers, where PS Stewart told the Committee that head teachers, who misappropriated funds were demoted then reinstated after being rehabilitated. Mamba, in his response to the PAC, said it was not true that head teachers who mismanaged funds were demoted and then reinstated.

“We wish to state that there is only one head teacher, who was demoted from the position of head teacher to be deputy head teacher for five years, after having been suspended for one year without pay. The matter was presented before the Commission and it was not for mismanagement of school funds. She was punished for using the school name to buy personal items. The reinstatement of this letter was also to comply with Section 96 of the Employment Act,” he said.

Promotion

He said it was worth noting that this head teacher was recommended by the REO for the Shiselweni Region that she was fit to be considered for promotion and that this happened during a session of the Commission. Also to be raised before the parliamentary committee was the issue of the alleged sale of posts in public schools. 

To this, Mamba said it was vital to state that the Commission does not create or request posts, but that this is the responsibility and duty of the Ministry of Education and Training that sanctions and approves the opening of all public new schools in the country. He said after this approval, the ministry then applies to the Ministry of Public Service for the creation of posts for; new schools, upgrading streams, upgrading from secondary to high school, and new curriculum. “The Commission only employs in the posts that have been allocated by the Ministry of Education. All public schools and educational institutions belong to the Ministry of Education and Training; the Commission is only a recruitment agency for the ministry,” the chairman said.

Mamba then made two recommendations, one of which is that in order for the Commission to be effective, the Secretariat should be employed, promoted and disciplined by the Commission. “For instance, there s a matter at hand that has been reported by the Commission to the Principal Secretary where a ministry’s investigator is alleged to have taken bribes from teachers, but as a Commission we are unable to deal with this officer, as such processes lies with the Ministry of Education,” he said. The other recommendation is that the ministry should capacitate the secretariat.

“Further, all teachers should be electronical, and lastly the organisational structure of the Secretariat should be reviewed and all vacant positions be filled for efficient service delivery,” the chairman said.

Adding, he said the Commission would have a meeting with the PS to discuss these matters in a bid to assist improve their operations.   The SNAT, in one other issue raised, alleged that there was a sale of posts for promotion and reinstatement of suspended teachers, an allegation that Mamba, in his response, said was not known by his office.



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