Swaziland Dismisses Teachers' Threat to Expel Orphans

On Wednesday, Swaziland's education minister denounced a threat the head of the national teachers' association made to expel by Friday more than 69,500 orphans who cannot pay school fees. "There is nowhere in law where such a provision exists… It is government's policy that they should all go to school," said the minister, Constance Simelane. Charles Bennett, chief of the teachers' union, said the government's promised $8.3 million payment of the school fees for the orphans, many of whom lost their parents to HIV/AIDS, has not been paid. "If the money is not paid by Friday this week we told the pupils that they must not bother with coming to school on June 26 because the schools can no longer afford to operate efficiently without their share coming from government," said Bennett. Many schools were being sued by the suppliers of teaching aids and were struggling to pay utilities, said Bennett. The main textbook supplier, Swaziland Book Sellers Association, now only makes deliveries on a cash basis, said Hezekial Mabuza, its chairperson.

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