The South African National Senior Certificate (NSC) curriculum will no longer be offered in the country.
This come after the ministry of education and training announced the stoppage of the NSC curriculum in all Eswatini secondary schools.
Acting Principal Secretary in the ministry of education and training Naniki Mnisi said the development follows the stoppage of the NSC offer outside the borders of South Africa by the Department of Basic Education in terms of the law of the Republic of South Africa.
In 2021, a formal communication was shared with all schools offering matric in the country after the ministry of education and training as well as the department of education in South Africa held several engagements on the NSC programme being offered in the country.
The engagements were prompted by a report from Umalusi evaluation team which raised concerns and highlighted risks touching on compliance and standards that the Umalusi evaluation team observed during a routine spot-checking of the U-Tech examination centre on November 26, 2018, while exams were in progress.
The engagements were conducted by a task team, which comprised officials from the ministry, Examinations Council of Eswatini (ECESWA), Umalusi-Quality Assurance Council and the South African Department of Education.
This led to the Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga suspending the registration of Grade 10 learners for 2022.
This was an interim major done to phase out the current mode of operation with regard to offering matric through U-Tech as a centre for a number of satellite schools.
Making the official announcement, Mnisi informed parents, head teachers, teachers, learners and all concerned stakeholders about the stoppage and stated that the South African constitution under Section 231 does not confer any power on the executive to make the law of the country applicable to other countries, hence the inability of the ministry to enter into an agreement with South Africa on a special arrangement to offer the NSC in the country.
According to Mnisi, parents are not expected to take their children to schools, motivating them that they offer the curriculum.
She clarified that the NSC was a South African curriculum, learnt and further written by its citizens. “Eswatini is not a province of South Africa, it is a country on its own. Schools should offer the stipulated examination as sanctioned by ECESWA,” she said.
She advised parents against being deceived by schools as this may lead to their children being stranded and unable to write the NSC examination. Mnisi also warned schools to desist from deceiving parents that they offer the NSC curriculum, as it is illegal to offer it in the country.
“Parents invest a lot of money in their children’s education. As we speak some parents paid E22 000 in South African boarding schools so that they can write the NSC examination and this is not right,” she said.
Furthermore, she advised all concerned stakeholders to take note of the situation and urged them to comply with the position of the ministry and further consult if need be.
