the monitor

Teachers call for enabling environment for mindset change

Tobokani Rari. PIC MORERI SEJAKGOMO
Tobokani Rari. PIC MORERI SEJAKGOMO

Teachers have called for the creation of an enabling environment for mindset change in the teaching fraternity.

Secretary-general of Botswana Sectors of Educators Trade Union (BOSETU) Tobokani Rari said while acknowledging that this year’s theme calls upon teachers to lead in this transformative process of mindset change, they called upon government to create an enabling environment for mindset change in schools. This year’s event theme was; Addressing this year’s Teachers Day theme, 'Rethinking Education with the Discourse of National Mindset Change Doctrine: The Progressive Teacher and Learner at the Forefront'. He said in their view of this concept of mindset change, teachers’ working conditions need to be improved to motivate them to lead this process.

“There ought to be a turnaround as well in the way the powers that be view teachers and the teaching profession,” Rari said. “Teachers shouldn't be seen as too many for their conditions to be improved, they should not be seen to be too many to be extended the same benefits that are enjoyed by other cadres, they should be viewed to deserve better remuneration, they should be seen to deserve better working space. "This is to mention, but few of those that the powers that be should change their thinking on, to facilitate mindset change in teachers and how the public should view the teaching profession.” He also said that this year’s Teachers Day is celebrated amidst challenges besieging teachers and the teaching profession, such as deliberate and perpetual refusal by government to extend the benefits and conditions of service enjoyed by the other cadres in the public service to teachers.

This conduct by a government that amounts to discrimination has continuously persisted unabated. He said they have seen government refusing to pay some deserving cadres within the teaching service, and scarce skill allowance that is extended to other public servants that are similarly circumstanced. "We have seen government refusing to extend multiple titling and grading to teachers under the pretext it commenced in the rest of the public service when teachers were still under the Teaching Service Management. "We have seen government refusing to place Primary School teachers into Senior Teachers with responsibility at the right level of the structure (D4) for the mere reason that they teach at primary schools.

These glaring discriminatory practices against teachers can't be right and need to be spelt as introspect on us and our profession as teachers. Teachers’ workloads are way too high and prohibit facilitating effective learning and teaching in this era and age," Rari said. "Besides that with the introduction of Outcome Based Learning (OBE), the workload of the teacher increases automatically owing to regular tracking and tracing of student performance, we have also seen recent, instances where the powers that be deliberately increased teachers’ lessons and number of classes beyond the maximum provided in the Establishment Register (ER). This has overburdened teachers, affecting their delivery."

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