01 Sep 2019

Botswana Sector of Teachers Union (BOSETU) has observed an increasing trend of teachers’ interest in courses that are not in line with the teaching cadre.

Speaking during BOSETU annual conference in Palapye recently, the sector president, Mr Winston Radikolo noted that in the past two years, the union sponsored 351 teachers to upgrade their studies on courses of their choice at the tune of P3.8 million. 

He said 82 per cent of the scholarship recipients pursued courses outside the teaching profession. 

This could be an indicator that they all wanted to leave the profession, he observed. Mr Radikolo therefore appealed to union leaders and the employer to closely look into the issue with the view of making teaching cadre attractive.

He said BOSETU had taken the move to empower teachers through scholarships after realising that in-service training had collapsed. 

It was our contribution towards delivering a quality service to children and therefore found it fit to upgrade our teachers to be at par with the demands of the 21^st century learners, he quipped.

Mr Radikolo appreciated President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi’s roadmap as it encouraged dialogue and consultation in decision making.  He assured the nation that teachers were determined to create a better Botswana. 

However, Mr Radikolo said despite their commitment and advocating for a better learning environment, it was unfortunate that some government ministries viewed teacher’s unions as cry babies and trouble makers. 

Our efforts to engage with them always receive mixed reactions, he stated.

Nonetheless, Mr Radikolo commended the Ministry of Basic Education for always engaging them ‘even though most of our engagements hardly produced the desired outcome, we remain hopeful’. 

Also, he said the Ministry of Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology was also steadily warming up and buying into President Masisi’s philosophy of consultation.

Mr Radikolo said for the past 30 years, BOSETU had fought to preserve the principles of democracy, social justice, equity and fairness. He said the union was advocating for issues of safety and health in the school environment. 

Health issues relating to stress and depression, he said were observed in the learning environment. Such  cases the union boss said could be related to, among others, nepotism, favouritism and inadequate resources.

Mr Radikolo said schools were disturbed by rejection of students and teachers perceived not to conform to the prevailing sexual norms including those that were gays, lesbians and transgender. 

They were more vulnerable to abuse, he added.

“As BOSETU we are campaigning against such discriminating and violent behaviour. We urge schools to enforce regulations on gender awareness and non-discriminatory behaviour,” he said.

 Mr Radikolo further said there was an emerging challenge of students bullying teachers, adding that some teachers were threatened with violence by students in possession of weapons such as knives.  

He said teachers must feel secure in order to fully deliver their mandate. 

“BOSETU has therefore advocated for the review of the pastoral policy with the view of engaging psychologists in schools to assist in arresting the challenge. 

There is also a need to empower school management with the requisite knowledge to deal with complex situations relating to safety and health,” he said. 

Mr Radikolo said it was unfortunate that teachers at some junior secondary schools were still housed in hazardous asbestos structures. Such schools are Kutlwano, Morama, Mookane, Kgolagano and Radisele. Ends