There have been no sport activities since 2019 due to a dispute between teachers and their employer, the Ministry of Education. At one point, the previous government engaged BOSETU and BTU only for the talks to collapse. Unions blamed the former permanent secretary in the then-Ministry of Youth, Empowerment, Sport and Culture, Kitso Kemoeng, for the botched negotiations.
Speaking during the Sport Pitso on Saturday, the Botswana Integrated Sports Association (BISA) president, who was also a member of the Joint Task Team on School Sport, Joshua Gaotlhobogwe, said they had warned the government that including unions in negotiations was a ticking time bomb. He said what made the talks difficult was that unions did not compromise. “The previous government felt that running School Sport was expensive, hence it was dumped. There were many loopholes and that is why any teacher could just go to the grounds and claim to be a coach in order to claim allowances,” he said. A member of the group that was tasked with discussing and presenting on School Sport during the Pitso, Ndibo Lebala, said their proposal is for School Sport to move back under the Ministry of Basic Education (MOBE). “We proposed that School Sport should be funded as an independent entity because it was realised that there was no budget for School Sport. Back then, the Ministry of Education spent money, which was not meant for School Sport, on School Sport and things stopped along the way. Now we are saying, School Sport should have its own budget. We are saying implementation of School Sport should be done by the Ministry of Education. Apparently, that is the line of thinking, Minister Jacob Kelebeng has been having,” Lebala said.
The previous government decided to set up a Joint Task Team in 2020 with a promise of a quick solution. Five years later, there is still no solution. Some of the recommendations from the Joint Task Team report, were that physical activity time should be scheduled in the curriculum to be delivered across all schools in Botswana, in order for all children to receive a minimum of 30 minutes of physical activity three times per week. During the Pitso, members of the group felt that the recommendation was for MOBE and it is far from what they are looking for. They said it would be difficult for a teacher or coach to go the extra mile. Another recommendation was that all learners should have the opportunity to explore, develop and nurture their athletic talent through systematic pathways.
The group endorsed the recommendation, adding that it should be addressed by schools' house competitions, which create an opportunity for all students to take part in sporting activities. The group did not have a problem with a recommendation that stated that all learners should have access to quality sport programme delivery leading to quality sport experiences. They were also in agreement with a recommendation by the Joint Task Team that called for continuous professional development in the form of compensation for the delivery of sport activities. The meeting also discussed the Sport Act, sport funding, and hosting strategy.
