Govt to fine-tune plan on free education for orphans

Swazi orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) will have to wait for the introduction of free education promised by the government. Minister of Education Constance Simelane has admitted that "some finer points" still needed to be sorted out in implementing the policy. Simelane announced last week that the government was to assist 60,000 of the total 200,000 OVCs in the country by paying the school fees of the destitute children, IRIN reported. This week Simelane called for financial assistance to implement the policy. The Times of Swaziland reported that while speaking on national radio, Simelane called upon the country to unite and support her ministry in their drive to get OVCs admitted to schools. "I understand that there are cost implications to the whole issue but we must be considerate towards the orphans. I am asking the nation to pray for the ministry, and also give us input on how the programme should be implemented," she said. "At a time when poverty, HIV/AIDS and hunger is wrecking havoc in the country, this [policy] was only meant to help the Swazi children. It might not have been implemented in the correct way in the first instance, but that does not mean we have to abandon the programme altogether," she added. For more details see: SWAZILAND: Government to pay school fees for 60,000 orphans