By Bongiwe Dlamini

MBABANE:Lot Vilakati,the Secretary General(SG) of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers(SNAT) says, Headteachers are struggling with no funds to run schools.

Responding to this Swaziland News when asked to clarify Education Minister Owen Nxumalo’s statement who told Parliament that, Headteachers were expelling children and withholding results, the SNAT Secretary General(SG) said,the problem was caused by Government failure to pay school fees under the Free Primary Education(FPE).

“Over 90% of the children in schools now are under the Orphans and Vulnerable Children(OVCs) program and government is not paying the money timely. This then creates problems for the Headteachers because the schools will survive with the monies paid by those few children whose parents can afford to pay on time.Thereafter, the school will run out of resources and the Headteachers will find themselves with no alternative because there’s no money. Another issue is that of the support staff,we have been urging Government in vain to allow parents to pay school fees in a Government account and that the Government must employ the support staff and pay them as civil servants. This will then enable Government to see that, if there’s no money, operations in schools would be grounded”, said the SNAT Secretary General.