Letsholathebe to intervene in unions, BEC standoff
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Tuesday October 4, 2022 06:00
There seems to be no end in sight to the impasse between the Botswana Teachers Union (BTU) and Botswana Sector of Educators Trade Union (BOSETU) and the exams body over invigilation and marking of coursework.
The parties have been at loggerheads with BEC over the rates and other related conditions of service, concerning coursework, invigilation and marking for the 2022–23 cycle.
This led to the unions advising their members not to submit coursework marks, moderate, invigilate, and turn up for marking for the 2022–23 cycle of external examinations until the matters were resolved.
But Letsholathebe told The Monitor that it is important for this impasse to be resolved as a matter of urgency. “We really need to sort out this issue urgently.
I had asked them (BEC and teachers' unions) to meet and resolve the matter.
We need each other, so it is important to resolve it,” Letsholathebe said. The Tati East legislator added he will meet the unions to see how best they can reach an amicable solution.
“I haven’t had time to meet and discuss with them since I had just returned from the United Nations.
Unfortunately, I had to rush to my constituency to try and deal with the ongoing FMD situation, but I should meet with you soon and will then update you on the matter,” he said, adding Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) has hit his constituency hard.
Dr Letsholathebe’s remarks come after another unsuccessful meeting between the teachers unions and BEC held just before Independence Day. A joint statement released by the unions, stated the negotiating parties met on September 28, to discuss a way forward over an escalated matter of failure to agree on a Memorandum of Agreement/Understanding between BEC and the unions. “At the meeting on September 28, the unions made it abundantly clear that they are not at liberty to discuss the rates and other related Conditions of Service, concerning Coursework, Invigilation and Marking for the 2022–23 cycle of External Examinations outside a formal structure in the form of MoA/MoU,” read the statement.
The unions further indicated that they would wait for the minister to resolve the issue of the MoU/MoA that he is seized with before engaging on the rates of the 2022–23 cycle of External Examinations, as it is the only legitimate and legal platform to engage.
The unions urged their members to remain resolute and united in boycotting any BEC mandate until advised otherwise. They should not fall for the dangled carrots and be hoodwinked into abandoning the struggle. For years now, the teachers' unions and BEC have been involved in battles over the issue of marking and invigilating coursework.