Examination Mess Of 2011 May Repeat, BTU Warns

Correspondent | Monday August 17, 2015 12:11

Teachers have been instructed not to submit course work as well as to stay away from invigilating classes during the 2015 examinations, after the Ministry of Education and Skills Development announced there will be no payment for invigilation and coursework.

“We do not know how this year the examinations will be administered.  The only advise we have given our members is not to submit marks for coursework, and not to invigilate (during the examinations),” Ibo Kenosi, the Botswana Teachers Union (BTU) secretary general told The Monitor.

“We do not know how they (ministry) come in, because several years ago the High Court ruled that invigilation and course work were the mandate of the Botswana Examinations Council (BEC). It looks like things have regressed.  We thought we had achieved a lot in moving forward, having gone as far as meeting the President in the past,” he said. Kenosi said that the proposed teaching cadre regulatory body, Botswana Teaching Council (BOTECO) draft bill, also concerns the teaching fraternity.

The bill was initially scheduled for reading at the just-ended winter Parliament.

Kenosi and the BTU vice president, Kenathata Dipogiso are of the view that BOTECO, despite being called a regulatory body, gives the minister sweeping powers.

“It was supposed to be tabled during the July session, but we asked for consultation,” said Dipogiso.He added: “There was no consultation.  There are actually two bills that will affect teachers; the other one is the Trade Disputes Act Amendment, which among others seeks to make teaching an essential skills service.”