'Teachers exam u-turn a necessary evil'

Ike Vavi
Correspondent | Monday December 6, 2010 00:00

 

For Petronela Mangisi, 'The teachers' action, though to some degree it is tantamount to a betrayal of the struggle and a massive own goal, has brought more joy to us as parents. It must be understood that as parents we were so stressed about the threat of the boycott after the invigilation scare. It was like a dark cloud hanging over our heads.'

She says that the recent stalemate over the issue of invigilation and marking was a sad chapter in the history of education, which had every patriotic citizen worried. 'This was a very difficult time for everybody including the candidates themselves,' she says.

She finds it hard to accuse the 'marking' teachers of being self-seeking. 'I find it difficult to believe that the teachers who are marking can all be viewed as being driven by the love for money. I feel that as individuals they have done serious self-introspection and realised that it would serve no purpose for them to fail to mark for the same students in whom they had invested their time and energy in terms of preparing them for the examinations,' she says.

She is of the view that, 'What is becoming clear therefore is that the teachers and the union leaders are operating at two different levels in so far as the marking issue is concerned. It is as if the teachers' main concern was the invigilation aspect and not the marking as proclaimed by the union leaders,' she says.

Shampo Buang describes the teachers' u-turn as a necessary evil. 'This is a necessary evil. We must take into account the fact that teachers are also parents. There comes a time when they now have to apply their minds fully to issues around them and take not necessarily the correct position but an appropriate one,' he philosophises.

He is quick to dismiss suggestions that this dramatic about-turn will negatively affect the image of the teachers, as no one will take them seriously in future when they advocate for their rights. 'On the contrary this u-turn will have a more positive bearing on the image of the teachers. People will be pleased to note that we still have teachers in the profession who still care about the welfare of the students, who unfortunately have been taken out of the equation by some during the protracted battle over invigilation,' he argues.

He continues to argue that teachers were on the verge of losing the trust and confidence of the society. 'It is no secret that most of us were now beginning to question the commitment of the teachers in so far as the human resource development of this country is concerned. What they have done now is enough to improve their battered public image and restore public confidence in them,' he says.

MmaTsholo (as she wants to be identified) also welcomes with a smile the teachers who have decided to mark the examinations. 'We are really proud of all those teachers who found it fit to temporarily put aside their weapons and answer a national call. They have demonstrated a high level of patriotism. Despite the many complaints they have against the Ministry of Education and Skills Development and Botswana Examination Council (BEC), teachers have come to their senses that the marking of the examination is a national exercise that cannot be stopped by the differences that we might have in some quarters. I whole heartedly salute them for their decision,' she says.

She commends the teachers concerned for looking at the broader picture and not allowing themselves to lose sight of the fact that these are the students that they have laboured so hard to bring to the present level.

'It would have been an act of sabotage if they would have started something and failed to complete it. They have taught these children and it is only logical for them to now mark and grade their work,' she states.

'The Union leadership need to look at the way they communicate with their members. What has happened is a clear demonstration of poor if not ineffective communication between the leadership and the rank and file of the organisation - something that is unhealthy for the organisation.'