Teachers' unions, minister at war
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Wednesday April 16, 2025 06:00
The minister was captured in a viral video saying a student from Selebi-Phikwe was beaten by five teachers, resulting in the learner being hospitalised. Two teachers’ unions, Botswana Sectors of Educators Trade Union (BOSETU) and Botswana Teachers Union (BTU), have since denied the allegations. Both unions say they have investigated the matter across all schools in the former mining town and found no such case occurred. BTU said in a statement that such unverified reports risk damaging the reputation of the profession of educators and undermining the academic achievements the Selebi-Phikwe region is proud of. The union challenged the minister to tell the nation the truth about what she said about the teachers in the Selebi-Phikwe region. 'We also request the minister to publicly apologise for the unsubstantiated claims and correct the record through official communication channels,' read the BTU statement.
BOSETU secretary-general, Tobokani Rari, told The Monitor that the minister should come out publicly and provide details about where and when the incident occurred. “We have done our investigations and found that no such incident occurred. Now, we challenge the minister to come out publicly and tell us when and which school it happened at. Failure to do so, the minister should retract. “She should then apologise for misleading the nation and bringing the teaching profession into disrepute. It is clear her mission is to destroy the already fragile and limping education ministry. This is a damning allegation,” Rari said.
Furthermore, he stated that they are worried that the minister’s utterances are alarming and cast aspersions on their profession. Rari explained that teachers have custody of children and the minister’s statement creates an alarm whether children are protected in schools. He said BOSETU has long resolved that their members should cease employing corporal punishment on students. He said this was after they realised that the government had lifted the veil on the teachers, leaving their members exposed to lawsuits. “We will continue to appeal to our members to protect themselves and comply because it is clear that the veil has been lifted. BOSETU decided on the issue during the 2022 congress against the backdrop of cases against some of the teachers who were taken to court by the government. “We have advised them to resort to other ways of trying to instill discipline. What happens thereafter, we don’t care. Our concern is the welfare of our members and their conditions of service. Government will have to worry about how it addresses the issue of indiscipline and misbehaviour,” he added.
Rari said the indiscipline in schools was due to the collapse of Guidance and Counselling systems in schools. He urged the minister to concentrate on reviving the Guidance and Counselling system, which he says will assist in modifying students’ behavioural disorders in schools. Additionally, Rari said they were also concerned about the minister’s recent remarks that she “doesn’t care about teachers’ disgruntlement but children’s welfare”. “It’s a very unfortunate statement coming from a minister of education. Teachers provide a delicate service because they deal with children. The employer should treat them equally delicately. What the minister is actually saying is akin to trampling on the rights of the teachers over children’s. It’s wrong to elevate the rights of children and relegate those of the teacher. A happy teacher produces good results. The minister should admit that she erred and apologise,” he said.