Africa-Press – Botswana. Teachers have been advised to air their grievances without being aggressive.
Addressing Tutume Mc Connel College staff after touring the school last Thursday, Minister of Education and Skills Developments, Dr Douglas Letsholathebe said teachers should not be hostile and threatening when expressing their concerns.
He said this after a representative of the teachers and a union member, Mr Duncan Basenyapelo said they were on the verge of not taking up activities and duties that they had been doing to help pupils perform well in their studies.
Mr Basenyapelo had said their efforts went unnoticed and that most of them were stuck on the C band without any progression.
He added those who acted for senior positions were often overlooked and that in most instances someone else was brought to fill the vacant post.
He also said some of their former pupils were now their supervisors.
He said they were never given feedback on issues they had raised which further demoralised them.
He noted that the school had 124 teachers against 88 teachers quarters and that they were forced to share with their counterparts from Tutume Brigade.
Furthermore, Mr Basenyapelo complained that they had not been paid for their course work even though they did not delay in submitting the results for the pupils towards their final examinations.
He added that it was not fair for them to be grouped with those who did not submit marks for the course work.
“We did the work and we want to be paid our monies,” he said.
In his response, Dr Letsholathebe said they were currently dealing with the restructuring process and that he would ask his permanent secretary to visit schools to get first-hand information on challenges experienced and how they could be addressed amicably.He acknowledged that they were aware of some challenges and that they were addressing them.
The minister also said they wanted teachers input on the curriculum and whether they were on the right path of teaching in the 21st century.
Dr Letsholathebe also pointed out that they introduced computers for learners and teachers in efforts to adopt to the latest technology for teaching and learning.
“We are moving away from the traditional way of doing things to the modern times,” he said.
Nkange MP, Dr Never Tshabang commended the minister for visiting the school.
He said modernising the education system would help and motivate pupils to adopt to the latest technology.
He appealed to the minister to speed up the process of transforming the Tutume education office into a district office so that it was at par with changes happening in the area.
He said they were serviced from Serowe.
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