Lawyers advice against Dow�s bill

Last year Botswana Sectors for Educators Trade Union (BOSETU) and Botswana Teachers’ Union (BTU) engaged Sefelani Thapelo and Mboki Chilisa to advise on the draft Botswana Examinations Council Amendment Bill of 2015. The duo advised that the purpose of the amendment is to take away the teachers’ ability to negotiate payment for the invigilation work, and to compel them to do the same without any additional payment.

The invigilation battle has been around for a while. In 2009, a dispute arose concerning whether the invigilation and supervision of external senior secondary school examinations fell within the scope and ambit of a teacher’s duties. The matter went to court, and in the case of BOSETU vs Opelo Makhandlela case number MAHFT-000013-09, Justice Mpaphi Phumaphi found in favour of the union. Thapelo had scored this important victory for BOSETU before Phumaphi.