Examiner�s concern to Botswana Examinations Council

Correspondent | Monday November 24, 2014 15:08

We are abused and exploited as I will briefly demostrate.We are also sadly taken for granted because of our desperate financialy situation as teachers.

 First and foremost we are paid P220.00 per night for accomodation and this amount is little because lodges are expensive.Where can we get accomodated cheaply?BEC employees rates are more than doudle this amount. Another area of utmost concern is the standardisation fee which is a paltry fee of P137.00 for examiners but this takes about 4 days depending on various subjects to complete.Scripts fees across all subjects are small and they do not entice teachers to go for marking.What attract teachers for marking are small “subsistence fees” not that they want to mark. Shading and entering marks are done free by examiners.

We are not paid upon completion of marking.It takes about three months and this delay is not necessary.Some Principal Examiners are not teachers and have been there for the past 30 years and are not conversant with curent subjects changes.The working conditions are pathetic.Some classrooms do not have air conditioning systems and this is not conducive for marking.

Marking is done in private schools while we have government schools like Mogoditshane Senior which can be used for this task.In these private schools chairs and desks are not enough and are not suitable for marking.There is limited space for car parking.Examiners should not be crowded in one place because they need toilets etc.

Lastly BTU and BOSETU through BOFEPUSO can stand up for Orange Botswana employees but cannot stand up for their members who are examiners.”Botlhodi jwa nta ya tlhogo”.It should be noted that teachers cannot easily boycott marking because they have low salaries and they are financially desperate that is why they settle for this exploitation and abuse by BEC.

I simply raised the above issues for BEC to know that we are not happy as examiners and they shouldnt take us for granted for long.

 

By Kraals