25 Mar 2015

Apt and judicious conflict resolution mechanisms must be put into effect in order to turn the education system around.

In a meeting convened by Ministry of Education and Skills Development and attended by Botswana Teachers Union (BTU) and Botswana Secondary Teachers Union (BOSETU) representatives on March 23, Minister Unity Dow said it was necessary to engage trade unions and recognise each other as partners in developing education by collectively devising solutions to the challenges that currently characterise the education system.


She said all stakeholders involved in the education system must shoulder the responsibility of the recent plight of poor performance in schools by not point fingers, but rather collectively identify and devicing solutions to these challenges in order to restore public confidence in the education system.


Dr Dow said she was aware that teachers from all levels; from primary to tertiary institutions faced varying challenges that must be examined under microscopic view to ensure that the ultimate product delivered was of a desirable quality.


She said a prudent holistic approach that addressed administrative issues must be adopted in order to better the education system. She added that a thoughtful conflict resolution mechanism must be put in place to ensure that issues are dealt with sufficiently to avoid bad publicity of the education system.


“We must all recognise that we are partners and our business is delivering quality education. We want to minimise conflicts, it’s important to resolve matters before they get out of hand,” she said.


Dr Dow, who was accompanied by assistant minister, Mr Moiseraela Goya acknowledged that they had inherited some challenges and called for trade unions to come on board and come up with ways of solving these problems such as unpaid overtime allowances for teachers which have taken too long, growing student-teacher ratio, defining teachers hours of work, teachers accommodation, under-resourced schools which cannot match the revised syllabus output amongmany other issues. 


She said the Education Sector Strategic Plan 2015-2020 was being drawn in order to address critical education matters for the resuscitation of education. She therefore said good working relations between all stakeholders was pertinent to bring ideas on board and forge a way forward.


She said one identified key area of focus for the plan that was expected to turn education results around was elementary education, “Let’s align our education system as early as primary school where students can identify and choose what is suited for their intellect,” she said. 
For his part, BOSETU president, Mr Kwenasebele Modukanele appreciated Minister Dow’s interactive move and presenting an open attitude, which he said would go a long way in solving challenges in the education sector.


He said building trust in the education sector would ensure parents trust the teachers to deliver results, “A lot of us entrust the lives of our children’s education to the people we don’t trust, that should say something to us,” he said.


BTU Secretary General, Mr Ibo Kenosi appreciated the open door policy that the MoESD permanent secretary has extended to the unions despite that they failed to arrive at solutions on various challenges facing the education sector.

He said it was encouraging for the Minister to approach unions with positivity by engaging, which he said would help resolve numerous teachers matters and take education to the next level. ENDS