After 39 headteachers were charged by the Ministry of Education and Training for allegedly charging top-up fees, the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) has resolved to defend them through the Swaziland Association of School Administrators (SASA).
These are headteachers who are members of SNAT.
The Shiselweni region had 18 schools found to be unlawfully charging top-up fees. There were 10 schools from the Manzini region, seven from Lubombo and four from the Hhohho region.
The headteachers met with the SNAT National Executive at the SNAT Centre following the charges laid against them by the ministry for allegedly collecting top-up fees illegally.
SNAT Secretary General Lot Vilakati said the headteachers indicated during the meeting that government grants under the Free Primary Education (FPE) programme and the Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVC) scheme were insufficient.
He said teachers were concerned that the funds paid by government to schools were inadequate, adding that the union supported an increase in FPE funding.
He said government needed to increase FPE grants, which was why some headteachers had asked parents to contribute additional fees.
ALSO READ | 40 Years Marks Eswatini’s Renewal – King
“As SNAT, we say government should be the one paying the top-up fees. The headteachers are not at fault; government is at fault because it is not fully funding pupils’ education in the country, which has forced schools to request top-up fees,” he said.
Vilakati added that the amount government was paying was below what had been recommended by the task team responsible for drafting the free primary education implementation framework.
He said government was paying about half of the recommended amounts.
For example, for Grades I and II, the task team had proposed E1 300 per pupil, yet government was paying E672 per child.
The union stated that government was currently paying E696 per pupil in Grades III and IV, E772 in Grade V, and E804 and E805 for Grades VI and VII respectively.
Vilakati said, after meeting the headteachers, it emerged that government funding to primary schools was insufficient to run operations, with some schools receiving about E80 000 for the entire year.
He noted that some schools were billed as commercial entities for electricity and water services, further straining their budgets.
“All the headteachers implicated in this matter had applied for permission to charge top-up fees, but government has not responded to some of them. Others are being charged even though government had approved their requests,” he said.
Vilakati said it was the association’s responsibility to defend teachers, particularly where their jobs were at stake.
He said the number of affected headteachers could exceed 39, as some had not yet been formally charged.
He also said some of the cases involved situations where pupils were asked to bring firewood or other complementary items from home.
SASA Secretary General Gcina Thusi confirmed that they had met with the teachers’ union to discuss the issue of the charged headteachers.
He said the meeting was attended by both the headteachers who had received letters from the ministry and those who were not affected.
He said the headteachers explained to SNAT and SASA their reasons for charging top-up fees.
“Some of the schools were unable even to afford the services of a cook. The headteachers are charging the top-up fees because they want to pay their support staff, including teachers, since some schools do not have enough teachers.
“Others charge top-up fees so that they can buy energy (firewood), because the money they receive from government does not cover that,” he said.
ALSO READ | Indlovukazi Warns Pastors Against Selling the Truth
He added that a way forward had been agreed upon by the affected stakeholders, with SNAT promising to assist the headteachers through the legal process.
He said this would take place after they met with officials from the Ministry of Education and Training.
Thusi said they would meet with the ministry so that the headteachers could present their side of the story.
