Teachers' unions withdraw court application

GOTHATAONE MOENG
Staff Writer | Friday April 13, 2012 00:00

Before the Easter break, Botswana Sector of Educators Trade Union (BOSETU) and Botswana Teachers Union (BTU), through their lawyers filed an urgent application with the courts, seeking to suspend the operation of a Savingram issued by the MoESD which called upon Regional Education Officers to require teachers to continue working during the school vacation.

Muzila is named as first respondent, while DPSM is the second respondent through new director Carter Morupisi and the Attorney General as the third respondent. Speaking to Mmegi on Wednesday, BOSETU president Shandukani Hlabano said the two unions filed an urgent application because they had activities to participate in during the vacations, and feared the Savingram would hinder their members from participating in the activities.

BOSETU, first applicant in the case, had planned to participate in the Association of Non-Aligned Teachers Unions of Southern Africa (ANTUSA) meeting in Namibia, while BTU, the second applicant, had organised a conference to be held on April 10-11, 2012. 

He said they have withdrawn the application because their activities have since gone ahead. He added that the case would go through the normal court procedures.

The unions argue that since independence, the school calendar in government-run schools has always operated on the basis of three terms, and that annual leave for teachers has always been tied to the school vacation.

They argue that it is impossible for teachers to take leave during the course of the year, as it is not in the best interests of their students. Terms and conditions of service within the teaching service were based on these customs and practices, individual contracts of employment as well as the Teaching Service Act. 

However, the Teaching Service Act was repealed by the Public Service Act, which came into force in May 2010. The new Public Service Act introduced maximum hours of work (from 7.30am-4.30pm) for the public service, teachers included.  As a result, the teachers' unions instructed their members to work in accordance with the new act, and cease from taking part in extracurricular activities, which fall outside the prescribed hours of work.

The unions argue that the Savingram from the ministry is unlawful and invalid, as Section 5(4) of the new Public Service Act provides that any individual who was employed under the Teaching Service Act should not be subject to a term and condition less desirable than a similar condition under the new act. A Savingram signed by Muzila dated March 6, 2012 lists the tasks teachers could engage in over the school vacation, including review of work done and preparations for the next term, management of continuous assessment, item writing and shredding, in-service workshops.