So it is the case that the whole nation waits in anticipation and fear of what will become of the unending fight between the Botswana Examination Council (BEC) and the teachers’ unions. It is a sorry and unfortunate turn of events which can never end well. We hear reports that BEC or as many Batswana parents call it beke, has remained unmoved on the P30 offer to teachers when they wanted P150. “Ntseehe beke ye e iri jang, e ka re e tlaa lala e re tshwarisitse maswe jaana? Mme fela fa o bona beke ya teng e ka re ga e a phuthela sepe!
Ke batho ba Modimo fela!” We must however remember that teachers are going through one of the most dramatic changes of their profession as a result of their unionisation and they are increasingly asking the right questions. Teachers are amongst the most exploited of the civil servants. Let’s think carefully about their plight before we trash their demands and their quest to get a decent pay. For many years teachers have worked very strange hours without appreciation; and there has been minimum debate around their working hours and conditions.
For a long time most have worked from before 7 in the morning, supervised students during tea-break, supervised students at lunch break, supervised studies and then proceeded to the grounds to train football, softball or netball, while others trained the school choir or the traditional dance troupe. Some arrived home around 6pm, exhausted. On the table in the evenings is a pile of students’ exercise books that are waiting to be marked. There is the scheme book, lesson plans and other matters to be taken care of. The teacher sleeps around 10pm ÔÇô he hasn’t had time for the wife and children ÔÇô all for slave wages. The argument is that a teacher is a parent, he has to understand. A a ineele mo tirong a bereke ka natla, a itse fa ya gagwe tiro e le boithaopo! Teachers are not volunteers; they are professionals. They are properly trained and their skills are transferable to many professions. In my interactions with teachers, I have been amazed by their intelligence and brilliance of mind.
I have always felt that teachers would make better politicians especially that they possess refined presentational skills and a better understanding of many social issues than many members of the society. The responsibility of a teacher stretches beyond the impartation of knowledge. When parents are incapable of dealing with their delinquent children they blame the school for not shaping their wayward rebels into angels when it is the responsibility of the parent to socialise their own children into responsible citizens.
Now the battle rages on between the teachers’ unions and beke. But beke is really a messenger of the Ministry of Education. So, whatever happens between beke and the unions is in fact between the unions and the ministry since beke is administering examinations on behalf of the Ministry of Education. We now read that beke wanted to pay the teachers P30. The amount is an insult to teachers as professionals. Given, some have accepted the P30, but not so much because it is any good, but because the very same Ministry of Education has educated some individuals into unemployment. Degrees and education diploma holders have become sources of cheap labour ÔÇô “Fa o sa batle P30 tsamaela koo, o kgotshe re a go bona, mongwe ene o tlaa mo amogela ka tsoopedi!” Now we know beke has ended up paying more than the P150 that was demanded by the unions. Why didn’t beke negotiate and offer, say P100 instead of P150? It would have saved the government money and such bad publicity. And remember that it is your money and mine which is paying for the mess ya beke.
So we must never talk about madi a puso, as if it is money stashed somewhere, or originating from somewhere else and not from our taxes. Now that the teachers’ unions have boycotted the examination invigilation, what if they boycott examination grading? Will the government still turn to the unemployed UB graduate and the retired teacher? Are parents to trust that these individuals will grade the students’ exams fairly and meticulously? Are the receiving tertiary institutions to accept that the grades offered by these novices and retired professionals as true reflections of a learner’s intellectual capabilities? There is nothing attractive about the fight between the teachers and beke. Beke e tsentse lobekebeke, even though it is now clear that beke e na le madi to pay teachers? Why do students have to suffer because of individual egos? What are parents to do in this situation? Parents must be advised that it is the responsibility of the ministry to teach and examine their children appropriately. If the ministry fails in executing any part of its mandate; parents must not be ashamed to group together and take legal action against the Ministry of Education.
Equally, the Ministry of Education should not shy away from firing any persons whom it finds responsible for the current mess. What is happening is shameful and may affect the integrity of Botswana’s examinations. In this age of electronic media, this matter is likely to cause much embarrassment to the country internationally. It is a truism now that the Ministry of Education ga o a robalelwa ke ditlhokwa. Golo kwa e ka re Pereko o sa tswa go goroga a tswa Makgoeng ka beke.
Some had hoped that Venson-Moitoi would rescue the ministry from its ashes. Her intentions are noble but her execution is flawed. I wish her well because that ministry o nko di mapara. My suggestion to the Minister is “Get back to the negotiation table” and please leave Moahi outside.
