Education goes up in smoke in Eswatini

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Eswatini flag

from SAMBULO DLAMINI in Mbabane, Eswatini
MBABANE, (CAJ News) THE dust might be settling down on the worst civil unrest in Eswatini but the future of thousands of children is going up in flames.

While the demonstrations have been brought under control, security forces have been battling the emergence of arsonists that set the schools on fire.

This turbulence will have a far-reaching impact, further denying the youngsters an opportunity to attain education in one of the continent’s most unequal countries.

Schools still bear the scars of the crisis, blamed on the arsonists who targeted the learning centres as protest action against the monarchy of King Mswati III escalated in June.

A tour of the infrastructure vandalised and razed to the ground has revealed the extent of the crisis in the education sector already devastated by the lockdowns imposed to curb the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

No less than a dozen schools than ten schools have been targeted in recent weeks, excluding some damaged in June. A majority were set alight in the month of August.

A laboratory was razed to the ground at the Velebantfu High School in the southern town of Hlatikulu.

Another group of unknown people threw a flammable substance into the office of the deputy principal at Mhubhe High outside Manzini, Eswatini’s largest urban centre and industrial hub.

The office and furniture were destroyed.

Primary schools have not been spared.

In the southern town of Shiselweni, suspected arsonists damaged an administration block and canteen at Mahlabaneni Primary.

In another shocker, an unknown person breached the Jerusalem Primary and threw a petrol bomb into a Grade 1 class!

Luckily, the scholars were not yet in that morning and teachers promptly put out the fire.

A Ministry of Education delegation expressed shock and wondered why communities could contribute to the development of school but later raze them down.

“Most of the burnt schools were built through the sweat and hard work of communities,” said Bertram Stewart, Ministry of Education Principal Secretary.

“The burning of schools does not only undo the developments achieved but is a hindrance in the attainment of good quality education. Schools are built after careful consideration that they will be accessible to a majority of children, considering their walking distances from home.”

The ministry has urged communities to protect the schools and report suspects to law enforcement.

Lady Howard Mabuza, the Minister of Education, denounced the “despicable acts of violence” as she visited schools in the Shiselweni region.

The area had the highest number of schools damaged. At least eight were ravaged.

There, in the constituency of Hosea, one school was burnt at the height of the protests in June.

Protesters invaded four other schools in Hosea and threatened to burn them if classes did not stop.

They were demanding the release of pro-democracy legislators.

Prime Minister Cleopas Dlamini has warned arsonists and criminals saying were hiding under the banner of political activism.

“Police will intensify their investigations to bring to book the criminals that are burning schools, national infrastructure and businesses, and all those using social media to instigate and spread messages of violence, hate and terrorism,” the premier warned.

The United Nations in Eswatini reports that more than 350 000 learners were affected by the indefinite closure of schools in March 2020, amid escalating cases of COVID-19.

In late June this year, King Mswati III, in power since 1986, faced intense defiance from pro-democracy activists.

Protests broke out across the kingdom, sparking riots, looting and a heavy-handed response by police and soldiers.

Opposition parties and civil society have put the number of those killed at 70 but it is believed more than 100 were killed.

– CAJ News

 

 

 

 

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