Teaching Council Bill goes to Parley

The Ministry of Basic Education is expected to present a Bill that seeks to establish BOTECO, and at this stage it is still open for input from stakeholders towards the finalisation of the Bill, a communiqué from the ministry says. BOTECO will be a professional regulatory body that monitors the teaching profession. The Council is expected to whip teachers into line, will function like the Law Society of Botswana and the Health Professionals Council.

“Its main functions are to regulate the teaching profession, maintain professional and ethical standards including teaching knowledge, skills and competence, licence teachers, establish, publish, review and maintain a code of ethics for teachers, and review as well as advise on professional standards of teachers,” explained Lebogang Nyadza, a spokesperson of the education ministry.  She further said the effectiveness of a teacher requires motivation, discipline, articulation, responsibility and innovation.  Adding to this also depends on continuous professional development. These include teaching standards and work ethics are central in both the 1977 Education for Kagisano and the 1994 Revised National Policy on Education.