BEC invigilator suspended

LEKOPANYE MOOKETSI
Correspondent | Monday November 29, 2010 00:00

'Action has been taken against the officer. He has been suspended,' she said during the Friday parliament session. The assault incident, which was exclusively exposed by The Monitor, occurred at Marulamantshi Junior Secondary School when students were writing mock examinations. The invigilator is an employee of the Botswana Examinations Council (BEC). Both the Ministry of Education and Skills Development and the BEC have been trying to keep this incident under wraps.

Just on Thursday, the director for regional operations (South East), Peter Choto told The Monitor that they were still conducting investigations. He said this was an incident that involved BEC. Asked why the investigations were taking so long, Choto said his department has been dealing with examinations. He said there were many issues that they were handling.

He added that they had ordered that certain issues over the Marulamantshi incident be revisited. He said this was part of the reason why the investigations were taking so long. Choto never mentioned anything about the officer being suspended even though he might have been aware of it. He only said the invigilator in question was representing BEC.

Venson-Moitoi commented about the assault incident when she was debating a motion tabled by the MP for Francistown South, Wynter Mmolotsi. At some stage there was a heated argument over whether Venson-Moitoi was responding as a minister or as an MP. She insisted that she was debating as an MP although she was defending her ministry.

Mmolotsi's motion, which is still under debate, is calling on the government to appoint a commission of inquiry to probe the examination crisis. In his motion, Mmolotsi listed a litany of incidents of malpractices that occurred during the examinations that were invigilated by inexperienced personnel. He also mentioned the assaulting of students at Marulamantshi Junior Secondary School. He said it would be a great surprise if the results come out positive because the conduct of the examination left a lot to be desired. 

In response, Venson-Moitoi denied most of the claims that Mmolotsi had made although she conceded others.

She said some of the claims the MP had made were correct to some extent. But she did not agree with figures that Mmolotsi had quoted. Venson-Moitoi tabulated her own statistics.

However, she pointed out that there was no need for a commission of inquiry.  She said the administrative machinery within her ministry was quite capable of dealing with the issue. Mmolotsi's motion was shot down by the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) MPs.

The Assistant Minister of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Mokgweetsi Masisi accused Mmolotsi of presenting a litany of allegations as if they were the gospel truth. He said Mmolotsi was coming up with allegations that have not been tested.

'How did you do this?  Did you conduct a poll or investigations,' charged the junior minister as he accused Mmolotsi of professional misconduct. Masisi, who is also the MP for Moshupa, said Mmolotsi was disparaging the students and the public by what he has done.

Masisi said what Mmolotsi has done, as a former teacher, was not keeping up with professional conduct.

Masisi, who confessed to also being a former teacher, said the examinations that Mmolotsi was complaining about, have gone through vigorous tests of validity. 

Kweneng South MP, Dr John Seakgosing said they did not want to create a community of servants by denying people education. 'We want all Batswana to be educated,' said Seakgosing, who is also Minister of Health.

He said in the past it was difficult for Batswana to acquire education. But nowadays, he said, almost every family has a graduate.

Seakgosing said teachers are the last hope for every parent and child. 'Teachers must realise this,' he said.

'They must realise that they are holding the destiny of our children in their hands.'

He slammed incidents in which he said invigilators were ordered to abandon students who were about to write examinations. 'That is very bad. It is just like a doctor who abandons a patient on an operating table,' he said.

'History is going to judge us harshly. One day a student is going to tell you, I am the one whom you abandoned when I was writing exams,' he continued.

'Some of us are products of teachers. Teachers must continue to produce under the circumstances they work under. We know the hard conditions they are exposed to.'

Seakgosing said the opposition does not have any responsibilities like the ruling party. 'They will not be questioned by anyone. We have no crisis in the Ministry of Education.

Our view is that the examinations went smoothly. We don't dispute that there could have been errors here and there.'  He said there will be an evaluation after the results have been announced.

'I reject the motion,' said Seakgosing as he called on the mover to withdraw it.