But even so, she still needs to watch what she says. It is not for nothing that she has come under attack for making an outlandish statement over the weekend. Faced with an egg and chicken situation, the minister now has egg all over her face. This is because instead of executing a delicate balancing act, she decided that diving on her sword was the better option.
That is why her attempts to explain why government decided to ignore teachers' calls for better working conditions at the Botswana Secondary Teachers Union (BOSETU) congress in Mmadinare over the weekend fell flat. There is no way teachers' welfare can be separated from that of learners. Firstly, many teachers are parents with school-going children of their own. Hence, better pay for teachers is sure to be reflected in a better life for their children.
Secondly, many teachers who are not parents support school-going relatives - cousins, nephews and nieces. It is therefore obvious that at the parental or guardian level, the destiny of teachers and learners are irrevocably linked. The same obtains at the professional level. Nobody can pretend to be protecting the welfare of learners by underpaying their teachers. Nobody can purport to be protecting learners when his or her intransigence has resulted in a strike by teachers. Refusing to come to an agreement with teachers and other workers over justifiable salary demands, thereby causing a strike, can hardly be used as a basis for boasting that learners are being protected.
