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BABAN – A total of 364 temporary teachers have been hired on a permanent and pensionable basis. The government has allocated EGP 65 million for converting temporary teachers to permanent positions and hiring Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) teachers to permanent positions. Public Service Minister Mabulala Maseko disclosed this at a press conference held at the ministry’s office yesterday. The conversion process began last fiscal year when a total of 942 temporary teachers were hired as permanent teachers. Maseko said His Majesty’s Government was committed in the medium term to absorbing the growing number of casual teachers in the Ministry of Education and Training into a permanent, pensionable institution.
Maseko said it was a gradual process that would begin in the 2023/2024 financial year with the conversion of a total of 942 temporary teachers to permanent and pensionable teachers; 686 of which were allocated to primary schools, 104 to secondary schools and 152 to high schools. Maseko elaborated that 284 temporary posts have been converted to vacancies and 80 new posts have been created to further absorb temporary teachers into the permanent teaching staff. “A total of 364 temporary teachers were inducted into the permanent teaching staff this financial year,” Maseko said.
He assured the state and all stakeholders that they would work towards converting temporary teachers to permanent teachers every year, funds permitting, until the situation is fully normalised. Likewise, Minister of Education and Training Owen Nxumalo said he can finally sleep well at night seeing the progress. Nxumalo said they were saddened to see teachers being employed as casual workers for long periods of time. He said the issue of teachers was also raised during Sibaya and teachers were asked to come up with solutions. The Minister thanked the Cabinet and His Majesty the King for allowing them to assist emaSwati. Nxumalo further urged the teachers to perform their duties diligently. Furthermore, he assured the nation that efforts were being made to address food shortages in schools.
Delay
Nxumalo explained that they were experiencing delays due to the procurement process; however, they hoped that this would not last long. Meanwhile, the Secretary General of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT), Lot Vilakati, said they always welcome initiatives that aim to change the lives of teachers. Veerakati said the government needed to fill all vacant permanent positions. According to Vilakati, they are just waiting for the announcement of about 4,000 new teaching positions, not the ones that already exist.
“It is wrong to hire someone temporarily for a permanent position.
“We want to convert all of the existing 4,000 temporary positions into permanent positions,” said Veerakati. He added that the government is expected to hire 1,000 teachers this year, as announced by the Ministry of Education. He went on to criticise the government for arranging teacher participation in the middle of the year, saying it affected the operations of the Ministry of Education. “They have to start over with the paperwork, which is a very tedious task. This should have been done at the beginning of the year,” he said. On different occasions, SNAT members marched to the Ministry of Public Service, demanding that the government employ at least 5,000 teachers on a permanent basis.
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