Teacher unions consult on overtime

The secretary generals of Botswana Teachers Union (BTU) and Botswana Sectors of Educators Trade Union (BOSETU), revealed that they have many incidences where the Ministry of Education and Skills Development (MoESD) has flatly refused to pay teachers after having been lawfully authorised and procedurally rendered service after normal hours and on rest days. “We are alive to the fact that some authorised overtime has been returned to schools unpaid across regions,” reads a letter to the teachers from Ibo Kenosi of BTU and Tobokani Rari of BOSETU.

The countrywide consultation process will commence from January 21 to 27, 2015.  “A detailed schedule with places, venues and times will follow. Meanwhile we advice teachers to suspend their participation in overtime activities pending the outcome of the consultation process,” the two wrote. They said with the implementation of the Public Service Act No. 30 of 2008, the hours of work for the whole of the public service were standardised in compliance with the international standards, that is, maximum of eight working hours per day.