GOVERNMENT PRESS STATEMENT

NO: …/20

MEASURES TO CONTAIN THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC WITHIN THE CIVIL SERVICE

Introduction

Following the decision by authorities to invoke a national partial lockdown in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the Ministry of Public Service has deemed it prudent to issue another circular to operationalize the pronouncement made by authorities within the civil service.

In that regard, Government has decided that the following prevention measures be taken to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus within the civil service:

1. 1. The numbers of civil servants attending work each week are to be reduced by half, with some working from home, while others will be working in their duty stations. This will be done on a rotational basis each week. Principal Secretaries and Heads of Department are to decide on how this will be implemented.
2. 2. All essential services within the civil service, which include, among others: fire and emergency services, health services, meteorology services and security services will not be affected by the attendance to work on rotational basis as they are expected to be fully at work to provide assistance during this period of the pandemic.
3. 3. The Ministry of Public Service will issue a circular with full details on this issue.
4. 4. These new measures will be with effect from Monday the 30^th March, 2020.

I THANK YOU!!!

HON. C.M. NTSHANGASE

MINISTER FOR PUBLIC SERVICE

25^th March 2020

2019 COMMONWEALTH PhD AND MASTER’S SCHOLARSHIPS TENABLE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC) has extended an invitation to the Kingdom of Eswatini through the Ministry of Public Service (MoPS), Human Resource Development (HRD) to nominate officers for the above mentioned scholarships.

These scholarships offered are focused on these six (6) thematic areas;

1. 1. Science and Technology for development example; Agriculture, Veterinary Science and Forestry.

2. 2. Strengthening health systems and capacity e.g. improving health provision or outcomes for disadvantaged groups in low and middle income countries.

3. 3. Promoting global prosperity e.g. through enhanced trade capacity and improved decision making by business sector or government.

4. 4. Strengthening global peace, security and governance e.g. strengthen peace and security at national and international levels.

5. 5. Strengthening resilience and response to crisis e.g. low and middle income countries to adapt to changing contexts, withstand sudden shocks, or increase capacity to preserve the continuity of operations after such events caused by threats like natural or physical disasters.

6. 6. Access, inclusion and opportunity e.g. promoting opportunity amongst historically disadvantaged groups in low and middle income countries by expanding educational opportunities, conducting community outreach, enhancing access to decision making or increase understanding of barriers faced.

Eligibility

• Letter of support from their employer for those employed or letter from chief or affidavit from parents for non-working applicants.
• Proof of citizenship in the form of certified copy of National I.D
• Detailed study plan and research topic to be pursued and how it talks to the Swaziland National Development Agenda as well as envisage plan of action and impact there off, after acquiring the qualification.
• Must not hold a qualification that is at the same level as the one applying for irrespective of the field (PhD applicants must be Master’s holder not PhD holders and Master’s applicants must be holders of a first level degree of at least upper second class 2:1 or above)
• Nominees should be of high academic quality, with clear, quality and comprehensive plan of study, quality of research proposal, signed supporting documents statements from the nominating PS or Head of Department in the case of government or employer in the case of NGOs and/or private sector or parastatal clearly stating the envisaged ultimate impact of the study programme and research topic in the country’s development agenda, core mandate of the nominating ministry and/or organization and a clear plan of action on return and how it will be implemented, monitored, sustained and measured stating the likely beneficiaries. The statement should further state which of the six CSC development themes the intended programme of study falls under and which three sustainable development goals and Swaziland development index indicators the envisage impact relates to.

Selection Criteria

 The grading of applications will be according to these three criteria;

• Academic Merit Second Class first division (2:1) for first degree or B+.
• Quality of the study plan.
• Potential impact of work on the development of the candidate’s home country from the vision 2022 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) perspective among other considerations.
• A supporting statement from a named supervisor from at least one of the UK universities to which you are applying.

Nominated officers are requested to refer to the links below for detailed information, important guidelines as well as terms and conditions of the Commonwealth Scholarships. http://cscuk.dfid.gov.uk/apply/applicants/ .Recommended officers should concurrently apply electronically for the scholarship and to the United Kingdom (UK) University of relevance by visiting http://cscuk.dfid.gov.uk/apply/uk-universities/part-funding or http://cscuk.dfid.gov.uk/apply/masters-scholarships  and forward to CSC as per the attached website on or before 19 December 2018. Furthermore, Ministries are kindly requested to submit the name, designation and employment number of the recommended officer to HRD in the Ministry of Public Service on or before 20 January 2019. HRD and the Commonwealth Scholarships are committed to administering and managing its scholarships in a fair and transparent manner, therefore, applicants are advised to gain more information at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/csc-in-the-uk-anti-fraud-policy-and-procedure .

Full candidate eligibility criteria are outlined in the 2019 Terms and Conditions which are available at:

http://cscuk.dfid.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/terms-conditions-masters-scholarships-low-and-middle-incomes-2019.docx.pdf (for Master’s Scholarships) and

http://cscuk.dfid.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/terms-conditions-phd-scholarships-low-and-middle-incomes-2019.pdf (for PhD Scholarships)

CANGO is kindly requested to nominate, apply and also share this opportunity with other NGOs.

NB: Observance of deadline is of utmost importance as late submissions will not be accepted.