Education in Eswatini

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.

Eswatini's Education Sector Strategic Plan 2022-2034 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:

1. Improving educational quality and student learning at all levels
2. Retaining students in school until completion
3. Strengthening entry and exit points of the education system
4. Enhancing teacher development and management
5. Ensuring adequate and equitable education financing and spending
6. Further improving access
7. Strengthening system resilience (after COVID) and preparing for future crisis prevention.

As part of its investment in civil society advocacy and social accountability efforts, GPE’s Education Out Loud fund is supporting:

• The Swaziland Network Campaign on Education for All (SWANCEFA) for the 2024-2026 period. This builds on previous support from the Civil Society Education Fund (CSEF).
• The Transnational Networks Advocacy Capacity strengthened for improved ECDE legislation, policies and measures in Southern Africa (TRANAC) led by Zimbabwe Network of Early Childhood Development (ZINECDA) for the 2023-2026 period.

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• Eswatini is part of the KIX Africa 19 regional hub.
• KIX research project:
  • Empowering districts and schools with data: A digital platform approach to co-create and scale education management information systems innovations.

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