MBABANE: Mbongwa Dlamini, the President of the Swaziland National Teachers Association (SNAT) said Government must employ at least 5000 permanent teachers to ensure full compliance regarding the number of learners that each teacher should teach at a particular time.
These sentiments from the SNAT President come after Lady Howard Mabuza, the Minister of Education announced in a press conference held at the Cabinet Offices in Mbabane on Friday that schools would re-open, a year since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking to this Swaziland News, Mbongwa Dlamini, the SNAT President said taking full recognizance of the fact that the third wave might hit us harder; each teacher should handle a maximum of 20 learners.
“Since learners will not all be attending school all at once, but in rotational schedule the Government should employ at least 5000 teachers on a permanent basis and that will be enough for the students to learn in the midst of the pandemic. As an organization we have decided that the Ministry of Education engage teachers on workshops especially on the issue of AstraZeneca vaccine as we need to hear from a reliable source whether it is safe for teachers to take the vaccine or not,” said the President.
Speaking during a press briefing at the cabinet offices on Friday, the Minister of Education said the opening of schools was necessary to address social ills that were a result of their prolonged closure.
“Government’s decision to re-open schools is not because the virus has been contained but this is done in consideration of the socioeconomic impact of prolonged school closure. The rate of teenage pregnancy, sexual abuse, child labor and early child marriages has notably increased since the closure of schools,” she said.
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