Mbabane – Learners and teachers will soon have easier access to cultural education following the launch of the Schools Cultural Villages Initiative, with two cultural villages expected to be built during the first phase in each region.
The initiative by the Ministry of Education and Training will create spaces where learners can experience Eswatini’s culture through traditional crafts, dance, storytelling, indigenous knowledge and other cultural practices.
Schools Cultural Villages Task Team Chairperson Dr Thamsanqa Dlamini said the project would help restore cultural knowledge that had gradually been lost while making cultural learning more accessible to schools across the country.
“We are proud that you have entrusted us with such a big job,” Dlamini said. “This work is very big because it is about bringing our culture back.”
He said the task team was conscious of the need to establish a programme that would continue benefiting learners and communities for years to come.
“We had lost a lot of our culture, and we want to go back to knowing what our traditional attire is like,” he said.
Dlamini said the establishment of cultural villages closer to schools would also reduce the costs associated with travelling to existing cultural facilities.
He cited teachers in the Shiselweni Region, who currently have to travel to Mantenga Cultural Village for some cultural activities, as among those expected to benefit from the initiative.
“Teachers in the Shiselweni Region will no longer have to spend money travelling to Mantenga Cultural Village,” he said.
The Ministry said the cultural villages would serve as practical learning centres where learners would move beyond classroom lessons and engage directly with the country’s traditions and heritage.
Through the programme, learners will be exposed to traditional crafts, cultural dances, customs, ceremonies and stories passed down through generations.
The initiative is also expected to preserve cultural heritage, promote unity, support cultural tourism and help protect local traditions from cultural erosion.
The Ministry said the programme would contribute to developing learners who are academically competent and knowledgeable about their cultural identity.
Dlamini thanked the Minister of Education and Training for entrusting the task team with the responsibility of preparing the initiative and supporting its implementation.
The task team is chaired by Dr Thamsanqa Dlamini, while Stanley Mthunzi Dlamini serves as vice chairperson.
Other members are Amos Magagula, popularly known as Nsimyenkhosi; Njabulo Dlamini, known as Gcumgcum; Mathokoza Sibiya, known as Ngcwenga; Thembekile Dlamini, known as LaMalindane; and Mandl’endoda Shongwe.
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