The unions are saying that BEC is arrogant and dishonest. At the centre of it all is the child whose future could very easily be determined by the manner in which the examinations are conducted. Already teachers are complaining that the examinations are not being run properly. There are even allegations that some examinations were written hours before time, as school heads grapple with an acute shortage of invigilators. The teachers are now planning to see the Minister of Education, Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi. They also plan to pass a vote of no confidence in BEC executive secretary, Serara Moahi. Among the several issues raised by the teachers through BOSETU is the one of pay for invigilating examinations. The teachers claim that they had asked for P150 per hour while BEC offered only P30. We are further told by BOSETU that BEC is now spending P360 on a single independent invigilator. We wonder, as do many Batswana, if this is true. Are stories of overspending and careless use of money, as the teachers would like us to believe, true? Was caution and professionalism thrown to the wind? Did people become personal when dealing with this issue so much that it became a game to fix an individual or a group of individuals? These are certainly questions that the nation is asking. Surely there should be someone responsible for this mess. Suffice it to say, the whole issue is bringing our country into disrepute.
Curiously non among BEC, the teachers and the Ministry of Education is willing to break the impasse. BEC and the ministry are saying that the teachers are acting irresponsibly. Assuming the ministry and BEC did manage to convince the nation that indeed the teachers acted irresponsibly, what would be the benefit? And to whom? In any case, the teachers are a huge workforce and it would be a moot point to try to get the nation against them. For are we not all products of teachers? We believe that the ministry and BEC should realise that the odds are stacked against them and do the reasonable thing. Assuming that as teachers claim, BEC is now paying more to independent invigilators, what harm would come out of government giving in to teachers demands? The examinations still have to be marked. It takes a trained teacher to properly mark an examination paper. The nation has a right to know if the people invigilating examinations are properly trained, if the examinations are properly conducted and if the people marking the exams would not unnecessarily fail or pass children. Surely this issue should not be about egos anymore. The nation has a good idea about the size of the egos of those involved!
