Government Agencies in Swaziland

The Ministry of Education and Training has authority over all educational institutions and manages the curriculum, assessment procedures and recruitment of teachers. The National Curriculum Centre (NCC) formulates objectives and produces educational programmes. Each of the four districts has a Ministry of Education office that is headed by a district education officer. Swaziland adopted a ten-year basic education programme as part of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) protocol on education. The Swaziland National Commission for UNESCO is headed by the Minister of Education as president, with the principal secretary chairing meetings. Commission members are drawn from all ministries, institutions and NGOs. The Emlalatini Development Centre (EDC) falls under the Ministry of Education and has three departments, namely Correspondence, Agricultural Teachers’ Training Centre and the Vocational Centre.

Public spending on education was 7.4% of GDP in 2010.

The National Development Strategy Vision 2022 is to place Swaziland among the UN’s top 10% of the medium human development group of countries. The Ministry of Education and Training plays a key role in national development, with the objective of providing quality education to all its citizens at all levels, in formal and non-formal education.

The government has introduced a new curriculum in the pre-vocational subjects of agriculture, business, home economics and technical studies, which was piloted in 16 high schools throughout the country.