The minister will point to recent disruption to education arising from the eight-week long public officers' strike as the excuse for this ill-conceived piece of legislation. Suffice to say, the strike itself was a creation of government's failure to reach agreement with teachers' unions - BOSETU and BTU - which are recognised unions that came to the bargaining table as part of the BOFEPUSU formation. The minister will also argue that education is a basic right that children should not be denied. We agree, not that we support the legislation. The same government that has for years turned a blind eye to the plight of teachers, is only TODAY, conveniently finding them to be a critical service. What double standards! It is largely because of government's disdainful attitude towards the teaching profession that many have shunned it. Government's intention is obviously to ensure teaching services are maintained throughout, and that there will be no strike by teachers. This is a dangerous premise. Proper education is much more than uninterrupted teaching. Good education is about a system that recognises the important role that teachers play and pays salaries that can attract qualified teachers in sufficient numbers. The conditions must also be conducive. Complaints about the workload, specialisation, lack of training, slow progression and proper facilities are unheard of in a sound education system. Through their unions teachers can articulate these concerns and bargain for improved conditions of service. There is no doubt government has also benefited from interactions with teachers' unions. The new law is, therefore, a very serious pitfall. For in as much as depriving teachers of the opportunity to bargain effectively will hurt them, the greatest ruin will be to the education system. You can never expect better yields from people that are forced to deliver. Instead, the harvest will be greater despondency and sub-standard education. In declaring teaching an essential service, government is merely diverting attention from the real issues - complaints over teachers' salaries and other conditions of service. And, No Sir, it will not be in a hurry to address the myriad of concerns that teachers have raised over the years, as there will be no strike pressure. The objective of the new law is after all to ensure just that. That is a sure formula for chaos. Unless government retracts, we are headed for a crisis of enormous proportions. That should worry any citizen. More importantly though for this nation, is the urgent need to recognise the systematic erosion of civil liberties by government. Today it is education. Tomorrow will be another profession. And out the window go all workers' and civil rights! It is sad. For where our founders believed in democracy - Puso ya Batho ka Batho - we now have a monocracy, a de facto one-party system that is bent on destroying whatever gains we have made as a nation since independence. What a shame.
Today's thought
