21 Jul 2019

The Leader of opposition and Gaborone Bonnington North MP, Advocate Duma Boko has dismissed the proposed Botswana Teaching Professionals Council Bill currently debated in Parliament.

Advocate  Boko said the Bill was a policing entity for the teaching profession saying it aimed at disciplining teachers rather than improving the profession  hence the Bill comprises mostly of the establishment of a teaching council.

Further, Advocate Boko noted that the proposed Bill did not address and deal with the conditions of service of teachers at a substantive level.

He said teachers’ hours of work, remunerations and conditions of service ‘are not dealt with in the proposed Bill’.

The issues, he said were critical because they affected  teachers’ service delivery.  

Further, Advocate Boko said the proposed Bill was a failure and irrrelevant with regards to the problems the teaching was faced with.

As a rsults, he said the proposed Bill was not a priority since there were existing disciplinary structures for teachers.

He said there were pressing matters in relation to their conditions of service, quality of education and the type of learners Botswana have.

He added that they need to be empowered and create a learning environment that models a classroom of the future.

Advocate Boko suggested that there should be an establishment of a council that would address education in a comprehensive manner beginning with curriculum design and the philosophy of the education system.

Selebi Phikwe West Legislator Mr Dithapelo Keorapetse likewise dismissed the proposed Bill saying it was inadequate .

He added that priority should be given to review of the curriculum and improvement of conditions of service in the teaching profession.

Shoshong MP Mr Dikgang Makgalemele however, backed the proposed Bill saying it would assist the country in terms of coming up with standards, eventually having the potential to produce the best teachers who could be employed abroad.  

Mr Makgalemele said the Bill came at the right time as Botswana had committed herself to be an education hub.

Therefore, he said the standards, promotions and developments enshrined in the proposed would be able to help the country move closer to attaining the dream of an education hub.

Mr Makgalemele said through the education hub, there would be creation of jobs through opportunities presented by the education sector. Ends