the monitor

Bleak future for tutoring centres

FSS students. FILE PIC
FSS students. FILE PIC

Having gained popularity over the years and moreso rapidly recently, tutoring centres and homeschooling face a rather bleak future.

Just as some private schools have written to the Ministry of Child Welfare and Basic Education complaining about their arrangements, they will soon have to acquire teaching licences. Some private schools in December submitted a request for the ministry to keep an eye on the mushrooming of the tuition centres around the country. Further, they are appealing to the ministry to regulate tuition schools or centres around the country. “According to the Education Act, Part III Registration and Control of Schools, under sections 13 and 14, it is compulsory that all schools operating in Botswana should be registered and Section 15 discourages the advertisement of unregistered schools by their owners. Section 27: Power to close schools, speaks about your powers to close schools which don't meet inspection requirements stated in Section 26,” read the submission.

The other complaints include the following: * Tuition centres and homeschools gather children in very unsafe buildings or structures; * Tuition schools employ unqualified teachers, most of whom just completed BGCSE, some have qualifications that are not related to teaching, and aren't even in possession of permission to teach document; * The number of tuition centres in the country outnumbers the registered schools. These tuitions charge lower fees because they don't spend anything on compliance; and * The ministry officials frequently raid and spot-check registered private schools and leave out the tuition centres that are flourishing without fear of authorities. As if the report to the ministry is not causing enough headaches, the newly established Botswana Teaching Professionals Council (BOTEPCO) intends to ensure that tutors operating in schools are licensed as teachers. Responding to a questionnaire from The Monitor, BOTEPCO's Manager Corporate Affairs Mercy Rebaone Thebe said the Council is aware that there are tutorial centres which offer schooling services and is currently embarking on a stakeholder engagement exercise with them which started in October 2024.

Thebe said BOTEPCO has addressed some of these tutorial centres and more will be addressed this year. This, she said, is to ensure that when the process of registration and licencing commences, all those who need to be registered and licensed would have been fully consulted as part of managing change. She said tutors who would be offering schooling services will be registered and licensed. “They will be licensed as 'Teachers' under the practising category 'Tutor'. The commencement of teacher registration and licensing will be communicated accordingly to all the relevant stakeholders and BOTEPCO is working around the clock to ensure the process starts at the latest opportune moment. We are currently finalising the development of the Teacher Registration and Licensing System (TR&LS) which will afford teachers to register in their locality and even in the comfort of their homes. We are also working at Gazetting the Regulations and Fee schedule and once all these are done, we should be ready to commence registration and licensing,” she said.

Thebe further said one should have a teaching qualification if they are to be registered and licensed, i.e. Certificate in Teaching, B.Ed, PGDE, M.Ed etc. teaching qualifications recognised in Botswana and approved by the Botswana Qualifications Authority (BQA). She said the TR&LS will accord teachers an opportunity to upload their qualifications on the system upon registration. Those who would have obtained their qualifications from outside Botswana will have to get them verified with the BQA before registration and licensing.

Quizzed on concerns raised by private schools, Thebe said they have attended Stakeholder Meetings where such concerns were raised. “Our Mandate as BOTEPCO is to professionalise teaching by registering and licensing teachers. Those registered will be expected to abide by the Code of Ethics and the Professional Teaching Standards. They will also be expected to undertake Continuous Professional Development. Abiding by the aforementioned threesome will necessarily contribute towards improved quality,” she said.

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