MBABANE — In his Career Chat column for Khuluma Eswatini, Bheki Makhubu writes about growing concern as reports show schoolchildren in Eswatini are abandoning their public examinations to join the Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF) recruitment exercise.
The army’s annual drive, aimed at strengthening national security and providing employment opportunities for youth, coincides this year with Form III and Form V external examinations, raising alarm among educators and parents.
Some pupils meeting the minimum age requirement have temporarily left their exams to run the 3.2-kilometre qualifying race for army selection. While there are no reports of permanent dropout, the decision to prioritise recruitment over final exams signals a troubling shift in values.
Eighteen-year-old Nobuhle Mbhamali from Ndunayithini, a Junior Certificate candidate at Oslo High School, participated in the recruitment under Sigwe Inkhundla. She told the media: “Nowadays, there is no difference whether you’re educated or not. Everyone comes back to stay at home because of unemployment. I’ve been offered a job opportunity, and I will grab it.”
Makhubu noted that such attitudes reflect growing frustration among emaSwati youth who feel education no longer guarantees a better future amid high unemployment, especially for graduates.
“True, we live in very tough economic times where jobs are scarce, but to allow our children to give up on education is not the solution to the country’s myriad of problems,” Makhubu wrote. He added that in a society that values education, students like Nobuhle would complete school before seeking army employment.
He called for a national dialogue involving experts in education, economics, and social development to address this decline in educational value. “In a normal society, this spectre of children opting to drop out of school to join the army at the tail end of their educational journey would be a red flag that requires its own national dialogue,” he said.
Makhubu criticised the timing of the recruitment drive and the lack of public discussion about it, saying it reflects a society increasingly reluctant to speak openly about its challenges. “We have become a nation whose leaders do not take kindly to being educated on the dangers that lie ahead,” he said, adding that fear has stifled freedom of expression.
He recalled a time when Eswatini’s education system was among the best in Southern Africa, producing some of the region’s finest minds. Today, he lamented, children attend school only because they are expected to.
“The fact that some children, even those who don’t qualify, have taken an interest in joining the army by running a few kilometres means children in the country do not value the education they are expected to attain. They go to school only because they are expected to. That is what should worry us,” Makhubu wrote.
He concluded that while Eswatini has experts capable of analysing why youth are losing interest in education, what is missing is political will to create space for honest national discussion. “We need to open the gates of freedom of expression so that we can discuss this problem that could explode in our faces,” he said.
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