Botswana Secondary Teachers Union (BOSETU) Executive Secretary Justin Hunyepa, said BEC has failed to give reasons why they could not pay the teachers. "All they said was that it was not budgeted for and therefore they did not have money. We have heard that they wrote letters to schools assuring the teachers that they would be paid before the beginning of the next financial year but I have not seen that correspondence myself," he said.
The High Court declared late last year that teachers cannot be compelled to invigilate or supervise external national examinations as it is the task of the BEC. Justice Mpaphi Phumaphi declared that invigilation and supervision of external examinations does not fall within the ambit of the duties of the teachers. Phumaphi explained that the applicants' bone of contention is that since the commencement of the Botswana Examinations Council (BEC) Act, members of BOSETU are not obligated as part of their duties to supervise and invigilate external examinations as that responsibility falls under the regime of the BEC in terms of that act.
