EZULWINI- Eswatini has joined 13 other countries globally in fully integrating social and emotional learning into early childhood education, with 13 513 children already reached by the programme since May 2026.
The Ministry of Education and Training officially launched the Think Equal Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Programme at Happy Valley on Thursday, placing the country among 14 nations where social and emotional learning stands alongside literacy and numeracy as a core component of early education.
Minister for Education and Training Owen Nxumalo said the initiative marked a significant milestone in the country’s education journey, emphasising the need to develop children’s emotional, social and academic abilities.
He said academic knowledge alone was insufficient to prepare children for life, adding that learners needed to develop empathy, resilience, self-awareness, self-regulation, critical thinking and the ability to build positive relationships. “These skills are the foundation upon which responsible citizenship, peaceful communities, and sustainable national development are built,” Nxumalo said.
The minister noted that Eswatini had already taken steps to strengthen early childhood education through the introduction of the Grade 0 curriculum earlier this year. However, he said there was a need to address children’s social and emotional development from their earliest years.
He cited violence, social conflict, mental health concerns and the vulnerability of children and young people as challenges that reinforced the importance of an education system that went beyond academic instruction.
The Think Equal programme uses storytelling, discussion, reflection and experiential learning to help children develop emotional literacy, empathy, conflict resolution, cooperation and problem-solving skills. Nxumalo said the initiative also resonated with Eswatini’s cultural heritage, where traditional storytelling, including tinganekwane, had long been used to transmit wisdom, nurture character and strengthen community bonds.
According to the minister, 509 teachers had been trained across the country’s four regions, while teachers were already reporting encouraging changes in classroom behaviour, emotional awareness, relationships among learners and conflict-resolution skills.
He said the launch was not the end of the process but the beginning of a broader national commitment to ensuring that social and emotional learning became an integral part of the education system.
The minister called on development partners, the private sector, civil society organisations, parents and communities to support the programme’s sustainability and expansion.
Meanwhile, Think Equal founder and Executive Chair Leslee Udwin commended Eswatini’s leadership, singling out Principal Secretary Nanikie Mnisi and Minister Nxumalo for their commitment to the initiative.
Udwin, whose organisation operates in 42 countries, said only 14 had reached full saturation, with their education ministries recognising social and emotional learning as a core priority alongside literacy and numeracy.
“Eswatini is one of those 14 countries and leading the world by example,” she said.
She added that 80 per cent of the 14 countries were African nations, arguing that the continent’s values, particularly the philosophy of buntfu, were central to the programme’s approach.
Udwin said the world needed a fundamental shift in how children were raised and educated, pointing to wars, suicide, mental health challenges and gender-based violence as signs of growing social problems. She argued that addressing such challenges required more than awareness campaigns, calling for values, morals and character to be nurtured during early childhood.
According to Udwin, the early years were critical because they shaped children’s development and influenced how they understood and responded to the world around them.
She described Think Equal as more than an educational programme, calling it a revolution aimed at building a more compassionate and peaceful society.
The launch places Eswatini among countries seeking to make social and emotional development a central part of early learning, with the Ministry of Education and Training calling for the programme to reach every child in the country.
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