Africa-Press – Botswana. Teachers have been called upon to put the interests of learners ahead of the challenges they are facing.
Speaking during an engagement meeting with teachers from schools across Bobonong constituency, Assistant Minister of Education and Skills Development, Mr Aubrey Lesaso, appealed to teachers to prioritise teaching and delivery of good results for learners.
While conceding that teachers faced a lot of welfare issues, Mr Lesaso, Who is also the MP for Shoshong, appealed to teachers to let their unions fight for their welfare while they took care of the business of teaching and learning.
Mr Lesaso said: “Yes, you have the legal right to unionise and take employer to court, but don’t punish pupils in the process,” said Mr Lesaso who found teachers to wear a lot of caps that have a direct bearing on the life of learners.
“You’re everything to the learners and we’re trying everything for you…we are working on improving conditions of your service and we plead with you to do well for learners.”
He appealed to teachers never to consider ‘downing tools’ whenever there was a conflict with the employer.
He called for a cohesive approach towards smooth transition of pupils from primary school into junior secondary schools. He asked junior and primary school teachers to stop blaming one another for the poor performance of students at JCE.
“Junior school teachers would blame primary school teachers for not honing enough skills of the leaners while primary school teachers would, in response, blame junior school teachers for turning their brilliant products into failures,” he said.
Mr Lesaso pleaded with teachers to continually remind learners of the possibilities and opportunities that awaited them than painting a bleak future, especially those with learning challenges. He said that such would permanently kill a pupils’ dreams.
For teachers who are constantly complaining about promotions and transfers to their preferred places, the minister urged that they celebrated the impact they were effecting in the societies they served.
“If you say you have overstayed, where exactly should you be?” he asked rhetorically before admitting he was aware of the challenges teachers faced.
Some of the challenges, he said, would be addressed through education masterplan that was in the pipelines.
The MP for Bobonong, Mr Taolo Lucas, said that the extent of dilapidation of some schools could de-motivate teachers from discharging teaching and learning with great enthusiasm.
“Kindly expedite fixing infrastructure at primary schools because the situation there is dire and needed to be fixed like yesterday,” he said.
Mr Lucas said teachers who shared accommodation facilities were bound to fight over the boundaries while others rarely had visitors because of the accommodation situation.
He suggested rental subsidy for teachers renting outside institutional houses.
He also said that teachers questioned promotion criteria since some best performing teachers hardly got promotions.
Consequently, he agreed with Assistant Minister Lesaso that parallel progression would help solve promotion problems.
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