MBABANE:Lady-Howard Mabuza, the Minister of Education and Training has clarified that the Swaziland National Association of Teachers(SNAT) does not have any authority to shut down school in the midst of the CoronaVirus outbreak.
Speaking to this Swaziland News this afternoon, the Minister said the teachers’ organization was misinterpreting the Occupational Safety and Health Act number 9 of 2001.
“The law they are using does not allow them to just leave the workplace and shut down schools, they have a legal obligation to engage the employer first. For now,we appeal for claim, Prime Minister will issue a statement soon on the next step” said the Minister.
Responding to the sentiments of the Minister, Mbongwa Dlamini, SNAT President maintained that their members will not report for duty because government seems to be staggering in addressing the risk of the CoronaVirus in schools.
“The way government is handling this issue suggests that she doesn’t care with lives of our members and we have a duty to protect them” he said
The SNAT President said they might not have powers to close schools but as an organization, they have a legal obligation to withdraw their members from a danger zone.
Education Minister Lady Howard-Mabuza