No consultation with teachers

Correspondent | Monday August 24, 2015 14:29

Secondly, the protection of the type of knowledge and skills have to be the most appropriate and their imparting itself executed in the  most diligent and efficient manner. Both these are concepts that we share with a lot of other people.

The driving legislation and or policies for educational services and the conducive environment for imparting knowledge are somebody else’s purview which put educators at a distinct disadvantage as they become merely implementors of something they had little input in the creation of.

The National Teachers Day celebration experienced some notable hiccups this year primarily from a position of financing. Government was reluctant to spend the proposed income and maybe we need to approach this commendable and useful day of commemoration from a different angle. Teachers and their unions could be requested to play a larger role including the provision of resources and therefore the running of the celebration. Possibly even to suggest a merging of the commemoration with the international teachers day on October 5th every year.

This is an ILO/ UNESCO and Education International recognized international celebration which gave birth to the basic international standards of the teaching profession since 1966. General teaching standards throughout the world are derived from this ILO/ UNESCO joint recommendation.The Ministry of Education and Skills Development is apparently embarking on a big change to the  education system in the form of the Education and Training Sector Strategic Plan (ETSSP).

A system which tries to blend academic or theoretical education with vocational or practical skills development. This  is almost the equivalent of a second revised national policy on education.

Initially and possibly in good faith, the Ministry brought on board stakeholders like teachers unions. Somewhere in the midst of the journey some of the stakeholders were  abandoned and their input ignored as no longer necessary. However the plan continues even today and it is being put in place.

Those burdened with the nuts and bolts of everyday implementation being recipients of orders and instructions. The ideas and concepts espoused by ETSSP may have merits which will be clouded by the way the whole program is being handled. An attempt is being made eventually, after a very long time since the initial recommendation in 1994 to make teaching professional. A false start  was experienced in 2009 and we hope this does not recur. We also hope the teaching fraternity will still be allowed some input, if not directly at least with the help of legislators into the Botswana Teaching Council bill.

The Teaching Council will be a welcome development only if teachers can come to be made to understand the possible pros and cons of its enactment. Quite a substantial proportion at the moment are in the dark about this thing which is deemed a lawyers or nurses or engineers thing. Let the state take  us on board.

The proposed amendment to the Trade Disputes Act, which is another re-occurance, following an attempt at making education services essential in 2012. This time , government just tries to follow the steps which she apparently missed in her last attempt.

The principle of what should be classified essential  or not is not what government thinks she needs to examine. Apparently this has been differed (postponed) to the October / November parliament . The employer wants to make education essential without adherence to the concessions which replace the withdrawal of the right to bargain and the freedom to associate. These are the two rights that would be affected by essentialising education or any other public service of a similar nature.

The Public Sector Bargaining Council is one area where the employer seems to be moving in a positive direction.

Through appropriate procedure,government is supposed to accept proposals for bargaining from the trade unions with budgetary proposals for the coming financial year. Bargaining in good faith entails the sharing and exchange of information at appropriate times. Government seems to be adhering in this instance. However, the Sectoral Bargaining unit seems to be the one under siege.

Apparently this part of the bargaining process is and has always been illegal. This despite the judicial decision from Justice Phumaphi. This stance takes us back to the 2010 stand off and the resultant debacle if issues around sectoral bargaining, the coursework, invigilation and marking cannot be resolved let alone be negotiated.

These are then some of the examples we have of the employers attempts at eroding trade union rights while maintaining the facade of good labour practices. We ask that the employer back down from these Neo liberal practices that threaten the trade union movement in the world, Southern Africa and especially in Botswana

*Kwenasebele Modukanele,

BOSETU President,