The primary mandate of the Ministry of Education and Training is to provide access to relevant quality education at all levels to all Swazi citizens; taking into account all issues of efficacy, equity and special needs. Realizing that education is the foundation and the main pillar of economic and social development and being cognisant of its core mandate, the Ministry of Education and Training continues to commit itself to providing accessible, affordable and relevant education of the highest quality. The Ministry believes that that by being responsive to its core business, its contribution to the achievement of the country’s long-term vision of ensuring that Swaziland is amongst the top 10% of the medium human development group of countries founded on sustainable economic development, social justice and political stability, as articulated in the country’s National Development Strategy (NDS) Vision 2022, will be realised.
The Ministry’s commitment to contribute positively to the attainment of the country’s vision is strategically and succinctly expressed in its mission statement, which reads as: ‘To provide relevant, quality and affordable education and training opportunities for the entire populace of the Kingdom of Swaziland in order to develop all positive aspects of life for self-reliance, social and economic development and global competitiveness’.
The Ministry’s vision amply expresses its demonstration of a reinvigorated strength and determination in developing policies, strategies and programmes aimed at ensuring that the rights of the child are respected and that commitments made at international, regional and national levels are duly observed. At the centre of its vision, which reads, ‘Attainment of equality in educational opportunity for all pupils of school going age and adults irrespective of their socio economic background, with the ultimate goal of enhancing their productive capacity, thus improving the quality of their lives’, lies the quest and passion to reduce socio-economic inequalities, improve productivity and the overall quality of the life of the people of Swaziland.
1..Overview of the Ministry’s Activities
Recognizing the key role of education in economic and social development, the country has made remarkable undertakings towards providing quality education to all its citizens at all levels through formal and non-formal approaches. It has intensified its efforts in the implementation of equity and competitiveness driven reforms. At primary / basic school level, the Ministry’s objective is expansion of participation, ensuring that all pupils, irrespective of their social or economic circumstances have access to quality education. At secondary/ high school level, the aim is to provide diversified curricula and increase the availability of space in order to enable pupils to exploit all opportunities available and transcend to higher levels of education upon graduation. At post-secondary level, the objective is provision of training programmes that are in line with the socio- economic needs of the country.
In its endevour to extend educational opportunities to all, particularly at basic education level, the Ministry has made remarkable efforts to aligning itself with global, regional and national policy initiatives. At international level, efforts have been made to attain the Education for All (EFA) targets and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG's). The aspirations of the EFA are covered by six goals namely: Expansion of Early Childhood Care and Development; Provision of free and compulsory primary education; Promotion of acquiring of life skills for adolescent and youth; Expansion of adult literacy; Elimination of gender disparities and enhancement of educational quality. The Millennium Development declaration sets eight specific goals (MDG’s) with specific targets. The fundamental aim of the Millennium declaration is eradication of extreme poverty and improvement of social welfare. MDGs place emphasis on attainment of Universal Primary Education and promotion of gender equality & empowerment of women. Regional and national policies also place emphasis on attainment of accessible quality education that is relevant and affordable to all.
2. Objectives of the Ministry
2.1 The provision of opportunities for all pupils of school-going age and adults to develop themselves in order to improve the quality of their own lives and the standard of living of their communities remains the central theme of the National Development Strategy (NDS).
2.2 The Ministry of Education shall offer a wide range of practical subjects so that more pupils would be made aware of their value. This would help change attitudes toward these subjects and develop the intellectual, moral, aesthetic, emotional, physical and practical capacities that are needed to shape and adapt to a fast-changing complex and uncertain socio-economic environment.
2.3 Education and training programmes shall engender a sense of civic mindedness and foster the skills that are necessary to participate effectively in the development of the country.
3. Ministry’s Portfolio Responsibilities
In carrying out its mandate, the Ministry has been charged with the under-listed portfolio responsibilities:
• Early Childhood Care and Development
• Primary Education
• Junior and Senior Secondary Education
• Technical and Vocational Education and Training
• University Education
• Teacher Training
• Special Education
• Adult and Non-formal Education
• Open and Distance Education
• In-service Education and Training
• Inspectorate and Advisory Services
• Quality Assurance and Accreditation
In carrying out these responsibilities the following crosscutting issues arise:
• Guidance and Psychological Services
• Curriculum Development
• Examinations
• Management Information Systems
• International Relations
4. Access to Education for All
The situation in the country is such that current access levels are exceedingly low and not responsive to the demand for skills required to sustain a knowledge driven economy founded upon sustainable economic development, social justice and political stability, as envisaged by the country’s National Development Strategy or Vision 2022. A quick assessment of the access rates in Swaziland reflect that about 16 percent of children of primary school-going age are not enrolled in primary education, an alarming 74 percent and 88 percent, of the appropriate age for junior and senior secondary education respectively, are not enrolled in these levels of education. The reflects an even worse situation for access levels for Technical and Vocational Education and Training and Skills Development (TVETSD) and University Education, since secondary education is the only pathway through which our children can transcend to higher or college levels of education. The pyramid pattern of enrolments, as one transcends from primary to secondary and eventually higher education levels, continues to be one of the most damning challenges facing the sector and the country at large.
The Ministry is however is not taking this with folded arms. Despite Government and external funding limitations, the Ministry is implementing various interventions aimed at removing cost barriers at primary / basic level, secondary and higher education levels. It is hoped that removing such barriers will enable all children, even those from more humble socio-economic backgrounds to participate in education. To this end, the Ministry continues to subsidize education through the provision of ‘free’ textbooks to all pupils at primary school level, physical infrastructure, facilities, furniture and equipment, educational grants and subventions and the rolling-out of the Free Primary Education (FPE) programme. Proposals for the construction of additional secondary schools, through external grant funding are at advanced levels and the Ministry still continues to execute programmes aimed at providing infrastructure, teaching and learning materials, student grant support (i.e. for Orphaned and Vulnerable Children) and other educational amenities at secondary and higher education levels.
The tertiary education sector still remains the biggest and most serious challenge to the sector’s capacity to implement programmes that will reduce access gaps at general education levels due to their heavy reliance on Government funding. Their potential to raise private or external funding to sustain themselves has not been fully exploited and this has a negative impact on the sector’s policies for improving access rates.
5. Quality Education
The pursuit of improvement in education quality is one of the critical issues facing the Education and Training sector. The sector is aware that expanding access without due consideration of quality is futile. Economic and social gains associated with expanding access can only be realized if quality is given priority attention. The primary determinants of education quality are:
• teacher qualifications
• teaching strategy
• schools infrastructure
• learning materials and schools equipment/facilities
To address the issue of quality the Ministry continues to provide schools with qualified teachers and to mount in-service courses to keep serving teachers up to date with the latest approaches in teaching. Recognizing the increasing demand for primary school teachers, the Ministry has increased enrolments at Ngwane Teachers College (a primary school teachers’ college) to sizeable proportions. Furthermore, the Ministry has also introduced a Primary Teachers’ Diploma (PTD) at William Pitcher Teachers College in order to expedite the training of teachers at primary school level. The Ministry has also continued with the provision of learning materials (textbooks and stationery- primary schools), infrastructure, furniture and equipment to schools. In collaboration with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy, and the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, the Ministry of Education continues to provide electricity to schools in the rural areas with the view to improve pupils’ learning outcomes and education relevance through the introduction of amongst others computer studies, and technical and vocational subjects.
The box libraries provided by the Support to Education and Training (SET) programme which is funded by the European Union (EU) to all primary schools in the country, will help improve children’s reading and writing skills and further improve the quality of teaching and learning at this level and at higher levels of education. The concept of School Development Plans and School Performance Reports, which is currently implemented in all schools under the Capitation Grant scheme, will be expanded to cover all schools so as to enhance management and performance levels in the schools.
The provision of schools infrastructure i.e. classrooms, computer laboratories and science laboratories is also biased in favor of rural schools. The rural-bias is driven by a clear underlying rationale: to improve educational outcomes of schools in rural areas and to achieve equity in the provision of quality education. The Ministry wants to make sure that schools that were previously disadvantaged and lacked the requisite infrastructure and facilities to attract qualified teachers are given more attention. This move will also ensure that all schools, regardless of their location, are fully utilized and that the country benefits from the current favourable averages in teacher-pupil ratios.
