The inability of the government to release vital funds has caused teaching in primary schools across Swaziland to grind to a halt. Many teachers are yet to get their two months’ salary arrears and some schools are unable to buy food for the children.
The Swazi Government is refusing to release money because many children do not have personal identification numbers (PINs); some parents do not have birth certificates for their children.
Last week the local media reported that the problem which has been going on since the school year started last January, has badly affected Shiselweni, Manzini and Lubombo regions. According to the report, the government returned claim forms for Shiselweni, Manzini and Lubombo because some learners have no Personal Identification Numbers (PIN).
The report said, ‘The principals stated that they had tried their best to encourage the parents and guardians to get the PINs for the children but they faced difficulty at the Ministry of Home Affairs as they said the requirements needed were nearly impossible to meet. They said what made matters worse was that though there may be few pupils in the schools who do not have the PINs the entire school was suffered”. The President of Swaziland Principals Association, SWAPA, Welcome Mhlanga, said “it was unfair on principals not to release funds to schools as it was not their duty to register certificates for children but a role of the parents, guardians and communities”.
The Swazi Observer newspaper reported last Friday that the need for PINs was a new rule and school principals said they had neither been consulted nor given adequate time to prepare for the situation.
The newspaper said some parents wanted the matter refereed to King Mswati III. The monarch is a dictator and whatever he says on the matter will not be challenged.
