Annual report on Swaziland / Commonwealth Relations Office.

  • Great Britain. Office of Commonwealth Relations
Date:
[1949]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report on Swaziland / Commonwealth Relations Office. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    7/54 page 5
    Act. In this plan greater stress has been placed on development as opposed to welfare. One of the most important projects in the plan related to the development of rural communities in the Territory and work on this began towards the end of 1948, with a pilot scheme in the South. It was originally a programme of heavy diversion work to protect a closely settled and cultivated area from storm run-off from the hills; but the plan was ex¬ panded to include the layout of grass buffer strips within the area to introduce soil conservation methods. The scheme was intended to show the inhabitants what was required, how it would be achieved and the benefits that would ensue. Early in 1949 the Paramount Chief and Council visited the area to inspect the work which met with general approval and resulted in instructions to all to co-operate in every way. EDUCATION DEPARTMENT During the year many of the educational plans previously envisaged were completed and with the improved salary scales, as a result of the FitzGerald Salaries Commission, the staff position has become more stable and it is expected to show considerable improvement in 1950. A new European school was opened in Pigg’s Peak in January; half the cost of this school was met by Peak Timbers Limited and half by the Government. At Goedgegun the accommodation problem has been eased by the building of married teachers’ quarters attached to the Boys’ Hostel. The school farm is to be enlarged this year by the purchase of 170 morgen of land adjacent to the existing farm, which should make the Hostel itself supporting in cereals, meat and fruit by 1951. The demand for primary and secondary education for Africans con¬ tinues to grow as is shown by an increase of 10 per cent in enrolment figures for 1949. Salary scales for teachers are still considerably lower than those in the adjoining provinces of the Union of South Africa, and conse¬ quently missions have difficulty in attracting and retaining qualified teachers. The proportion of qualified to unqualified teachers is now approximately 3 to 2. A new Government school is in course of erection in the Native Land Settlement area at Pigg’s Peak, and at Hlatikulu work is shortly to com¬ mence on the provision of two new classrooms. At the Mbabane Central School additional classroom accommodation is nearing completion. Plans for the development of the Swazi National School (for which £30,000 has been voted from the Colonial Development Welfare Fund) have been drawn up and are at present under consideration by Govern¬ ment. The Teacher Training Centre which it was hoped to establish at Mathapha, but which may now be established in Mbabane, should go a long way towards solving the staffing difficulties of the African schools. Under the Colonial Development and Welfare Fund scheme “D.796” £2,000 per annum up to 1956 has been provided for the purchase of books and school material for African schools. Books will be issued free of charge. At the Trades School, Mbabane, the first group of apprentices will complete their training at the end of 1950. The institution appears to be gaining in popularity.
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