Africa-Press – Botswana. Unemployed teachers have always been opposed to short-term contracts because they are financially and professionally unsustainable, the convenor of the Botswana Temporary and Unemployed Teachers, Thabang Kopelo, has said.
He was responding to a recent announcement by the Minister of Child Welfare and Basic Education, Nono Kgafela-Mokoka, that due to the expansion of schools and increased student enrolment at junior secondary level, temporary teachers would be employed while a permanent solution is sought.
Uncertainty
“As a collective and in various platforms where we engage, we have always been against these short-term contracts because they strain us financially and compromise students’ education,” Kopelo said.
He added that the uncertainty surrounding contract renewals undermines both teachers and students. “This arrangement disrupts relationships and negatively impacts academic results,” Kopelo emphasised.
Kopelo expressed frustration that a permanent solution had yet to be found after the unemployed teachers presented a petition calling for one.
“No meaningful progress”
“We do not know when the minister intends to implement permanent solutions,” he said. “So far, there has been no meaningful progress.”
Last month, the group also petitioned the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Pius Mokgware, calling on the government to stop issuing work and residence permits to foreign teachers.
Mokgware assured them that the government had already stopped issuing permits to foreign educators as well as to truck drivers and that 140 applications were rejected in December.
Unemployment statistics
Kopelo said finding a permanent solution for unemployed teachers would reduce Botswana’s unemployment statistics because foreign teachers are hired in high numbers.
He emphasised that they are not being xenophobic but want to see Batswana being able to put food on their tables, hence their related demand payment of their arrears.
The numbers of unemployed graduates are rising every year in Botswana, among the graduate teachers who are now asserting their demands.
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