In September 2009, in a case between Opelo Makhandela, then director of Teaching Service Management, and unions representing teachers, Judge Mpaphi Phumaphi rules that teachers were not obliged to invigilate external examinations, as that is the mandate of the Botswana Examinations Council (BEC). Subsequent to the judgement, teachers' unions (then Botswana Secondary Education Trade Union (BOSETU) and the Botswana Teachers Union (BTU) demand remuneration for invigilation. An interim agreement is entered into by the unions, BEC and MoESD for a rate of P28 per hour. Part of the agreement is for the three parties to meet the following year to draw up a Memorandum of Understanding, which would detail each of the stakeholders' future roles in the examination process.
February 2010
BOSETU and BTU contact the MoESD, communicating a wish to fulfill the 2009 commitment to map out their future relationship with BEC on issues of invigilation and the MOU. The Report of the Committee of Inquiry into the Conduct of the 2010 Examinations states that despite numerous reminders from the unions over months, "the ministry dragged its feet until July, when there was little time left in that year for further talks before the advent of examinations."
