- Govt boosts support for local and international students as new academic year begins
BY MBONGENI NDLELA
MBABANE – Government has injected a substantial E177 897 186.15 into scholarships during the second quarter of the 2025/2026 financial year, underscoring its commitment to empowering emaSwati through tertiary education funding.
According to the Ministry of Education and Training’s 2nd Quarterly Report, this figure represents a sharp increase from the E21.9 million spent in the first quarter, reflecting the return of continuing students to tertiary institutions and the onboarding of new beneficiaries for the academic year.
The scholarship expenditure covers both local and external students, and includes payments for tuition, accommodation, meals, books, allowances, and other academic costs. Specifically, E13.17 million was paid towards tuition, registration, foreign levies, and interest charges for students studying both in Eswatini and abroad.
The breakdown of the scholarship spending for the quarter is as follows:
• Accommodation: E54 257 600
• Meals: E57 941 800
• Books: E19 777 000
• Tuition: E13 035 778.49
• Students’ air tickets: E15 275 660
• Personal allowance: E7 106 800
Plus additional costs for uniforms, internships, field allowances, and project allowances.
The report also shows that the Ministry managed E680 million in total scholarship budget, with E502 million remaining at the end of the quarter to cover the needs of newly awarded students and continuing learners for the remainder of the academic year.
Beyond disbursement, scholarship recovery efforts remained active, collecting over E19 million from past beneficiaries through
Treasury, FNB, and the Scholarship Recovery Consortium.
This significant investment demonstrates government’s prioritization of education as a driver of national development. By supporting thousands of emaSwati students, both locally and internationally, the country is strengthening its human capital base for future socio-economic growth.
