BY MBONO MDLULI
MBABANE – The Ministry of Education and Training is ready to roll out the A Level curriculum next year in selected schools throughout the country.
This was said by Minister of Education and Training on February 7, 2025 when releasing the Form Five results at the Ministry’s Conference Room in Mbabane. Nxumalo said the country was ready to roll out this programme, as it had been identified as being good for the children of Emaswati.
Nxumalo was answering questions to journalists, who wanted to know if the Ministry was prepared for the A Level curriculum. Nxumalo said the curriculum was good for Emaswati pupils because it allowed them to compete internationally.
The minister’s sentiments were shared by Chief Inspector of Secondary Schools Cebsile Nxumalo. She said they would identify one school per region, which would conduct lessons on A Levels. Cebsile said at the moment, they were doing assessments to find out if the schools would be fit to conduct the new curriculum.
Director of Education Dr Tholakele Mngometulu-Dlamini said the programme was being introduced in response to complaints expressed by Emaswati, who stated that they wanted a curriculum that would enable their children to access tertiary education internationally. She said that was the beauty of this curriculum.
Dr Mngometulu-Dlamini said the difference between A Levels and AS Levels was that the A levels and AS levels were taught in a similar way, but A levels were more advanced and took longer to complete. She said AS levels were similar to the first year of an A-level course. AS level results used to count towards a final A level result.
The director said the AS Levels covered half the content of the A Levels. She said in the A/AS Levels, the first two years would cover contents that would be equivalent to Forms One to Three. She said the high school course (Form Four and Five) would not be tempered with, allowing the learner to be able to go straight to university, upon completing the high school course.
