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Teachers in Swaziland are engaged in an ongoing protest from today

As well as fighting against pay cuts being imposed by the Swazi government, the teachers are calling for an end to the political system where a king rules the state and where political parties are illegal. The leader of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT), Muzi Mhlanga told the Times of Swaziland: “We want a freeze of the money belonging to certain individuals who steal and hide it in foreign banks that are in countries like Switzerland and the United States.”

The teachers have decided to travel to the protest – which will centre in Manzini – by public transport because when they demonstrated last month their hired buses were attacked by security forces. Many leading trade unionists were arrested and the headquarters of SNAT were raided by police.

Teachers in Zurich are to receive a language handbook with vocabulary and basic information about the 14 main immigrant languages to help ease communication. With one in three students coming from foreign-language homes, the manual is designed to help in situations such as parent-teacher meetings as well as in German language classes.