MoESD, BTU resolves pending issues

Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Monday June 22, 2015 16:07

The two parties made joint recommendations to the Directorate of Public Service Management (DPSM) to advise them. The MoESD public relation officer, Silas Sehularo confirmed that they had met with teachers’s union and jointly made recommendations to DPSM. “We usually meet with our partners regularly to discuss issues that concern teachers, students among others. “Yes, we indeed met on June 15th and made some recommendations to DPSM and they (DPSM) would advise and give us the way forward on the matter,” he said. WSome of the recommendations are that Senior Teachers with responsibilities should be restored into the scheme of service and be pitched at the salary scale of D4.

Senior Teachers without responsibility be termed Senior Teacher II and be pitched at the salary scale of C2.

This arrangement will then push Heads of Department (HODs) to Salary Scale D3, Deputy School Heads to Salary Scale D2 and School Heads to D1.This, the recommendations said, would benefit primary school teachers since they had been left out on Levels of Operations discrepancy.  The two parties also adopted that any work that comes beyond the 10 hours on a working day and on rest days (Saturday & Sunday) would attract overtime. In accordance with the Employment Act, employees who work for six days in a week shall be paid for 26 days in a month and as such teachers would fall under the category of employees who get paid for 26 days, the report stated.  Also, the joint report agreed that part time employees be engaged to carry out the coaching of students in extra– curricular activities for two hours during the working days and during competitions on rest days (weekend.)On the issue of leave days versus vacation days, the parties ultimately agreed that teachers should be allowed to go on vacations and use their leave days during the process, but should leave the minimum number of days as provided for by the employment act. The minimum days left would be used when schools are open when there are some eventualities. Only the issue of flexi hours was abandoned because the parties could not agree. The Ministry management indicated that in their view, there are some free periods that teachers would be doing nothing when they do not have direct contact with the students.

In view of that, it was then suggested that during such periods, teachers be permitted to carry out their own personal errands and those be regarded as flexi hours. The report suggested further that those hours be then compensated by working extra hours and on rest days.

The BTU had met the president Ian Khama before to share with him how they wanted some of the teaching problems to be resolved. The president’s office recommended that the two parties should sit down and resolve the matter.