Long-running pilot subject teachers sidelined
Baboki Kayawe | Tuesday September 5, 2017 15:00
The settlement allowed for creation of substantive posts of responsibility for French, Physical Education, Music and Moral Education.
Mmegi is reliably informed that one of the pioneers of the said subjects who has been coordinating since 2008, but handed over to someone else last year upon an agreement that teachers must rotate for the coordination role, has been sidelined.
“The said teacher has been coordinating this subject since Goodhope SSS opened back in 2008, but last year somebody else took over the coordination role and has now been appointed Senior Teacher 1,” said a source. “We wonder what criteria was used to recommend this person as they are new to this position so it can’t be on the basis of performance,” the source said.
These subjects were being piloted for over 10 years, but teacher unions, Botswana Sectors of Educators Trade Union (BOSETU) and Botswana Teachers Union (BTU) lodged a case in which they saw it as unfair and discriminatory practice, the absence of a progression path for teachers offering Physical Education, Moral Education, French and Music.
The subjects have for over a decade been offered on a pilot basis, and the Ministry of Education did not create posts of responsibility for the subject teachers, something that left the said teachers disgruntled as they could not benefit from annual promotions. Though reports suggest in some secondary schools there were teachers being recognised, as heads for these subjects, there were a lot of cases where the ministry has ignored the need to create the Senior Teacher I posts.
Subsequent to meetings (the last of which was in May 23) between the Ministry of Basic Education, and teacher unions it was agreed that 52 positions be created for these subjects, save for Moral Education which has been discontinued in senior secondary schools. Unionists suggested that teachers who have coordinated these subjects for a long time be considered for positions of senior teachers. BOSETU vice secretary general, Innocent Mannathoko said they had proposed that those who have coordinated the said subjects be paid but the employer refused on grounds that there was no post of coordinator in the law.
“Then we insisted that these people should be prioritised when the subjects are made substantive,” he said. Mannathoko further said the agreement was that those who had earlier started with the subjects should be recommended, as they have always been subject heads.
“Most of these teachers piloted Music, French, Moral Education and Physical Education in Junior Secondary Schools, and later when the subjects were pioneered at senior secondary level they were taken there, so it will be unfair if they are being overlooked,” he added.
He appealed to their members to resist accepting the role of subject coordination as the employer has made it clear there is no such post, and it will not be paid for.
“Teachers must stop accepting that responsibility; we are aware that school heads write to them asking that they coordinate certain subjects, but they shouldn’t accept because the employer doesn’t recognise that arrangement,” he said.
This, he added is very prominent is junior schools where subjects are clustered for instance practical subjects are categorised as one and there is only one senior teacher appointed to head that group of subjects. Individual subjects under that cluster would then have a volunteer to coordinate, while the position is unpaid for. “This is a way for the employer to avoid paying for the job hence teachers should stop doing this,” stressed Mannathoko.