Over 2000 teachers live below their means
Chakalisa Dube | Friday August 29, 2014 15:40
Government recommends that married public service employees take home P1, 500 while those single should have a minimum of P1, 300 as their net income. The minimum take home income is not done in accordance with salary scales but across board.
Speaking at the Botswana Sector of Educators’ Trade Union (BOSETU) elective congress in Palapye this week, the Deputy Permanent Secretary Corporate Services at the ministry, Nosang Mhutsiwa said that teachers who go home with less than the recommended amount have high chances of performing poorly at work.
“How can you perform your work duties well when you net-pay is zero?” a concerned Nosang asked rhetorically before appealing to teachers to be financially disciplined. Though he did not avail readily available statistics, Nosang also noted that the ministry is concerned by many instances whereby teachers absent themselves from duty without seeking permission from relevant authorities.
“We are now known as one of the ministries with a high dismissal rate because of the reasons I have mentioned above,” he chastised the teachers. Meanwhile the BOSETU secretary general Tobokani Rari defended the teachers who live below their means. Rari argued that the trend is fuelled by wages that do not correspond with high standard of living.
“Majority of teachers earns low wages that do not reflect the high standard of living. That is why they take home less money. “However, there are a few who are financially irresponsible, but at BOSETU we have rolled out a financially literacy programme in collaboration with BancABC to help these teachers to be financially prudent,” he said. Rari also said that through the union’s code of ethics they continue to encourage their members to respect their work.
“We will continue exploring ways that will help us deal with members who do not abide with ethics,” he said, in reference to workers who constantly abscond from work. Johannes Tshukudu the Botswana Teachers Union (BTU) president said that though they do experience instances where teachers lack financial discipline, the situation has improved as compared to the last five years.
“Before levels of operation, teachers were lowly paid and resorted to short term loans to subsidise their standard of leaving.
“As a union we used to have many cases where teachers were in financial doldrums but now the situation is better.
“Despite improvements with regards to teacher remuneration, there is currently a slight indication that some teachers still need financial literacy as they show signs that they are mishandling their finances,” Tshukudu explained.
He added that the ministry has agreed to workshop teachers on the importance of looking after their finances.
“We also through our congresses encourage teachers to abide by ethics and respect their work by making sure that they do not abscond from work and deliver as expected,” Tshukudu said.
He added that they encourage leaders in schools to always investigate why some teachers abscond from work before taking action.
“Some teachers abscond from work due to social problems and it is important for an investigation to be carried out- before any other action is taken- so that that they can be assisted if there need,” he said.