Govt bars expats in private schools

Tefo Pheage | Tuesday October 25, 2016 15:28

A letter dated September 16, 2016 signed by Simon Coles, the deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry of Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology, said where expatriates are engaged, the employer must show detailed and sound reasons why locals were excluded.

Coles says that an observation has been made that many university graduates, who are qualified teachers, are unemployed and at the same time private schools continue to recruit foreign teachers in large numbers.

The letter says a rapid assessment has indicated that only 20% of teachers in private schools are Batswana and government would like to see this situation reversed. Private schools are encouraged to advertise posts widely, including in newspapers to encourage local recruitment. As part of the process to ensure localisation in private schools, the government has shared a database of unemployed graduate teachers.

The ministry also tightened the noose on gaps  normally used by the private schools to exclude local graduate teachers, saying “in the event that you are requesting renewal of a foreign teacher you are advised to show what has been done in the way of adverts, shortlistings, interviews and others, to recruit their replacement and accompany this with the application for renewal”.

In a brief interview, Coles said the ministry is worried that despite the high unemployment that has hit this country, only 20% of teachers hired there are locals.

“We have also learnt that generally, their salaries, job security and packages are not in line with what the government is offering and we call on them to improve such. In fact, we have advised them to review their operations and report to the government next month,” he said, adding that they want to see the imbalance being addressed quickly.

The chairman of the Association of Private Schools, Steven Sorinyane says he agrees fully with the government on localisation. “It is true that we still have 80% expatriates teaching in our schools and the time has come for us to balance this anomaly.”

“If you remember well, I used to have reservations that our graduates’ work ethic leaves a lot to be desired, but that has changed over the last few years and they must be hired and given these opportunities,” he said.

Meanwhile, the association has expressed concern at the mushrooming of community tutorial centres, urging the government to crack the whip on them, as this has decreased enrolment in private and public schools.

According to the Education Act, any tutorial centre that has more than 10 students or learners is considered a school and must register as such. Sorinyana said they have engaged the government on this following a decline in their enrolment. “We have supplied the government with information on these tutorial centres operating illegally. While we have already submitted over 30 names to the government, we estimate that there are over 100 centres around the country and we are busy identifying them,” he said.

Ministry officials have as a result promised to direct regional directors to close down any such centres.