By Bongiwe Dlamini

MBABANE: Lady-Howard Mabuza, the Minister of Education has announced the closure of schools ahead of the June 29 massacre commemoration.

But the Minister,when addressing journalists during a press conference held in Mbabane on Sunday said the decision was reached after a consultation with education stakeholders.

“This decision was made following consultations with education stakeholders, who made a formal request to the Ministry to allow teachers and pupils to rest a bit longer. The rest of the revised school calendar, however, remains the same,” said the Minister.

Reached for comments, Mbongwa Dlamini, the President of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers(SNAT) confirmed that the teachers association was contacted by the Minister regarding the closure of schools.

“The Secretary General received a call from the Minister who alleged that she was receiving calls from teachers asking for more days to rest, the Minister asked us to share our view before a decision could be taken.For the first time, the Education Ministry claims to have received calls from teachers and decided to take action.Teachers have been calling the Ministry complaining about lots of things, no action was taken.We know that by closing schools, they want everyone to be at home on the 29th June,” said the SNAT President.

According to the Minister, schools are expected to re-open on the 5th July 2022.