Teachers to apply for leave during school holidays?

LEKOPANYE MOOKETSI
Correspondent | Friday November 26, 2010 00:00

This time the bone of contention is over teachers' leave days. The ministry is reported to have ordered that teachers should apply for leave during school holidays.  This is a new development, following the implementation of the new Public Service Act.

Commenting over the latest saga, the president of the Botswana Secondary Teachers Union (BOSETU), Shandukani Hlabano said this shows that the ministry has declared war on teachers.  'They are trying to hit back at teachers,' he charged.  He said they do not object to the decision that teachers should take leave.  'But what will the teachers be doing during school vacations,' he questioned.

He said the teachers' main core is to teach students.   Hlabano said in-service programmes are planned in good time but for this period the ministry has not arranged anything. He said when the new Public Service Act came into place there was an agreement with the ministry that there should be a transitional plan.  Hlabano said it was initially agreed that teachers should go on holiday when the schools closed during the transitional period of the new Public Service Act.  But he said the ministry has reneged on this agreement.

Hlabano said what was surprising was that even the ministry officials do not know how to calculate teachers' leave days.  He said the confusion, is reigning about what is going to happen today (Friday) as schools close. Hlabano is still waiting for the Directorate on Public Service Management (DPSM) to clarify the matter.

He said even the understanding of regional directors varies on this matter.  He stated that the whole idea is centred on punishing teachers.  'These people cannot run education,' the union leader charged. He said teachers are waiting to hear of the correct procedure as no answer has been forthcoming from the relevant authorities.Hlabano threatened that if he does not get any response from DPSM, he is going to make his own decision.  'If they fail I will give a directive.   You can't have a vacuum where people fail to take decisions,' he said.  He added that their members have no clue what is happening.  They have been inquiring from the union on what needs to be done.

Hlabano said in the past, teachers were not forced to take leave when schools closed.   They left for vacations automatically when schools closed.  He said this is an international trend. Hlabano said according to the nature of their jobs, teachers need a special dispensation.  But he accused some officials of being jealous of teachers. 

The acting president of the Botswana Teachers' Union (BTU), Justice Kgabeng said teachers cannot be forced to take leave during school holidays.  His point of reference is the Public Service Act which he said is clear as to when a public officer can take leave. 

'We can't be told when to take leave.  Even officers at the ministry take leave when it is appropriate to them,' Kgabeng said. He said if somebody makes that suggestion it should be in black and white.  However, Kgageng said he has not come across any correspondence to that effect.

The only savingram that he came across was the one from the ministry, calling on teachers to fill leave forms when they go on leave.  The union official said the memo was reiterating that there should be leave records.  'The ministry said teachers should record their leaves.  I don't have any correspondence which says they should take leave during school days,' he said.

The public relations officer in the Ministry of Education and Skills Development, Nomsa Zuze said teachers can only take leave during school holidays because of the nature of their job.  'I don't know what is causing the confusion,' she said.  The leave debate comes at a time when teachers have been locked in a dispute with the ministry over working hours.  Since the implementation of the new Public Service Act, teachers insist that they will only work the stipulated eight hours.  This has led to a situation whereby teachers could not engage in extra curriculum activities that are staged after hours.This year teachers boycotted invigilation of examinations because they were not happy with the conditions set up by the Botswana Examinations Council (BEC).  BEC ended up engaging inexperienced invigilators leading to various problems. In one instance, a lay invigilator beat up students at Marulamantshi Junior Secondary School.

It is still still not clear how BEC is going to mark the examination papers.  The teachers are not willing to mark the exams until BEC improves their conditions of service during the marking.