Eswatini’s education system is organized into four levels: early childhood care, development and education; primary education; secondary education; post- school education and training comprising tertiary education; and technical and vocational education and training. Adult education/lifelong learning is provided for those who never enrolled or dropped out of the formal education system.
Eswatini is close to achieving universal access to primary education as a result of the Free Primary Education program introduced in 2010 to reduce financial, physical, and socio-cultural barriers to education.
The Education Sector Strategic Plan 2022-2034 for Eswatini presents the long-term strategic priorities for the education system, in line with the country’s priorities. The plan is guided by an overall vision of “children and youth prepared for life through quality education, leading to enhanced social and human capital development and inclusive growth”.
The government aims to raise the quality of education in Eswatini by making progress in the following areas:
School children wash their hands in Eswatini.
Eswatini received a $500,000 grant (with UNICEF as grant agent) in 2020 to prepare its 2022-2034 education sector plan.
Eswatini’s Multiplier grant in the amount of $5 million has been approved for 2022-2026, with the World Bank as grant agent.
The grant supports a $32 million program to strengthen education service delivery and management systems, in order to improve the quality of education in early childhood, primary and junior secondary education in targeted areas.
Co-financed with a World Bank loan, the GPE grant supports the early childhood development and education (ECDE), and basic education components of the program. The program targets poor and rural areas, including areas with high poverty and high dropout rates.
The components of the full program are:
The program aims to strengthen teachers’ pedagogical skills by providing training and classroom-based support, with a target of at least 80% showing improvement.
Institutionalization of learning assessment mechanisms and tailored support to adolescent boys and girls are also included in the program. To monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of activities, the program will utilize an innovative citizen engagement activity that will employ ICT-based surveys and feedback mechanisms.
All amounts are in US dollars.
| Grant type | Years | Allocations | Utilization | Grant agent |
| Multiplier | 2021 | 5,000,000 | 15,104 | WB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sector plan development | 2020-2022 | 500,000 | 500,000 | UNICEF |
| Total | 5,500,000 | 515,104 |