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Science Policy for Sustainable Development
National Profile of Science and Technology (S&T;) in Swaziland
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND HIGHLIGHTS
In 2008, the Ministry of Education of the Government of Swaziland, in collaboration with UNESCO, commissioned an inventory of the state of science, technology and innovation (STI) in the Kingdom. In conjunction with studies undertaken in the past, it is anticipated that this study – a “National S&T; Profile”– will contribute to the already initiated formulation of a comprehensive, competitive and relevant national STI policy in the short, medium and long terms. This policy should give ideas about the special S&T; challenges to be considered in Swaziland and highlight the requirements for human, financial and material resources necessary to link S&T; to national policy and development objectives.
A survey questionnaire was administered to the targeted population of S&T; units and institutions in all sectors of the Swaziland economy, collecting data for year 2008 (and, where possible, also for year 2000 for comparison). About 56 institutions and units known or supposed to be engaged in S&T; activities were contacted. However, at the time of compiling the present report (prepared for the UNESCO Windhoek Office in Namibia), a number of these institutions had not responded to the survey or were not able to report information (or only partial data was provided). The questionnaire focused on the status of human and financial resources devoted to S&T;, in particular to R&D;, the sources of funding for research and the “outputs” (results) of research activities in the years of reference. Additional information was collected for the University of Swaziland and other higher education institutions on, for instance, the numbers of students entering and leaving higher education (enrolments and graduates) and on academics (University and College staff). The study has revealed a number of challenges that Swaziland is facing today. The Kingdom still has a very long way to go in terms of financial and human R&D;/S&T; investments before it catches up with other states and still more so to reach the one-per cent target commitment of GERD/GDP see “Definitions of terms” below) of the first African Ministerial onference on S&T; (AMCOST) held in Johannesburg in 2003. Based on data for 2008 obtained in this study, this ratio is estimated to be about 0.2 per cent for Swaziland, as compared to the GERD/GDP ratio for Africa (in 2002) of 0.3 per cent and 1.7 per cent for the World (UNESCO 2005b). This African ratio is furthermore heavily biased by the role of the Republic of South Africa (0.9 per cent in 2007) (OECD, 2009). In general, the research capacity in Swaziland, in terms of financial and human resources, is very poor. In particular, the 0.2 percent GERD/GDP ratio is too low to have any meaningful impact on the national economy, unless vigorous measures are taken in the short term. It was noted that the University of Swaziland (UNISWA) has the highest concentration of researchers in the Kingdom, followed by the Energy Department of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy and the Agricultural Research Division of the Ministry of Agriculture. The largest number of researchers was employed in the Agricultural Sciences both in 2000 and 2008, followed by Natural sciences. The broad field of Engineering and Technology showed the lowest participation of researchers. The data calculated on the basis of full-time equivalence (FTE) with the aim of determining the number of scientists and engineers who were engaged in research in 2000 and 2008 were found to be 113.4 and 114.3, respectively. These figures are too low compared to . By 1980 Swaziland should have had at least 135 scientists and engineers who are engaged in R&D.; The number of student enrolments and graduates in Swaziland in Engineering and Technology is still very low compared to other fields of study. This field also appears to be of little attraction to female students. For example, in 2000 and 2008, only 7.7 per cent and 12.5 per cent of all the Kingdom’s female students graduated in engineering and technology, respectively. Out of 199 students in the three higher education institutions offering education and training in Engineering and Technology, namely the University of Swaziland, the Swaziland College of Technology and the Vocational and Commercial Training Institute – Matsapha, there were only 12.6 per cent first-year female students in 2000, whilst the percentage of outbound (final year) female students was as low as 10.4 per cent in 2008. Compared to other countries, the overall percentage of female academic staff at the University of Swaziland and the five responding colleges was rather low (just below 20 per cent in 2008), and female participation was gloomy in the other sectors of the economy as well in 2000 and 2008. At individual institutional or sector level, UNISWA had the highest percentage of female researchers, that is, 36.1 per cent whilst the lowest percentage was in the Business Enterprise sector, with only 7.1 per cent female researchers. At the request of UNESCO, the present report also makes a number of recommendations about the way forward for Swaziland in the field of S&T;, one of them being to identify ten S&T; institutions that should either be strengthened or established with a view to enabling the nation to break the barriers which currently exist between S&T; and sustainable socio-economic development.
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