MBABANE:Lady Howard-Mabuza, the Minister of Education and Training has thanked teachers for working tirelessly in producing impressive Form Five(5) results even under difficult conditions.
Speaking during a press conference when announcing the release of the Form Five(5) results this week,the Minister further thanked Headteachers and parents for assisting learners to prepare for the examination.
“Teachers worked tirelessly to cover the syllabus and most of our learners embraced the opportunity. I would like to appreciate Headteachers ,teachers,learners and parents for helping learners to prepare for the examinations,” said the Education Minister.
Reached for comments, Sikelela Dlamini, the Secretary General of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers(SNAT) said they felt the Minister was mocking them with her statement.
“We are working under extremely difficult conditions and the Minister is among those who are oppressing us as teachers. Even though we are working under such difficult conditions, we try to make sure that the children get proper education because a teacher ends-up bonding with the children.The Minister did not say anything about overtime allowances for teachers, permanent employment and other challenges faced by teachers. We urge the Minister to address these issues instead of mocking us pretending to be thanking teachers,” said the SNAT Secretary General.
On another note, the results suggest that the Manzini region obtained the highest passing rate with 33.51%, followed by Lubombo with 33.34%, Hhohho with 33.22 and lastly Shiselweni with 31.97%.
Education Minister Lady Howard-Mabuza.