As the country prepares for the opening of schools on the 29th March 2021 using a rotational and blended approach, the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) has revealed that teachers are not ready to take the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine because of its low efficacy and they demand a more effective brand.

This was revealed by the SNAT Secretary General Sikelela Dlamini when sought to comment on the re-opening of schools as announced by Acting Prime Minister Themba Masuku on Thursday.

Dlamini first confirmed that SNAT was part of the school reopening preparedness.

“From what the Acting Prime Minister said, we can confirm that as the SNAT we were part and parcel of the schools reopening preparedness. However we feel some schools are not 100% ready to reopen in terms of facilities including running water,” said the SNAT SG.

Dlamini outlined that the SNAT demands for the re-opening of schools in a safe manner were categorized in to three categories namely; facilities, employment of teachers, as well as the vaccination of teachers.

Regarding the vaccination of teachers, Dlamini said they as SNAT demand a more effective COVID-19 vaccine brand pointing out that they are not ready to take the AstraZeneca vaccine currently being rolled out by the country because of its low efficacy.

Dlamini applauded the government for paying out the Free Primary Education (FPE) and the Orphans and Vulnerable Children’s (OVC) Grant pointing out that this was one of the most important demands by the association.

“We are glad that in his statement the Acting Prime Minister said the Government has paid all outstanding FPE and OVC Funds including the first tranche for 2021 that was the most important demand from us as the SNAT. We know the money is inadequate since it is far lower than inflation since it has been unchanged since 2010. But the fact that it has been paid is better and shall make schools to at least start operating,” narrated Dlamini.

The SNAT SG however reiterated that no parents shall be forced into paying fees for the 2020 academic calendar but only the government has to pay since “education is a public good and as such it must be state funded”.

He said the country needs to ensure that Education is assessable to all and that is of high quality so that Emaswati can acquire a competitive edge when compared to their counterparts from the rest of the world.

Lastly, the SNAT SG revealed that they are expecting the government to hire at least 5 000 teachers before the re-opening of schools so that they immediately become available to help in conforming with the COVID-19 regulations.