{"id":64261,"date":"2025-02-27T17:19:36","date_gmt":"2025-02-27T17:19:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/acute-shortage-of-teachers-hits-public-schools"},"modified":"2025-03-18T20:10:13","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T20:10:13","slug":"acute-shortage-of-teachers-hits-public-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/acute-shortage-of-teachers-hits-public-schools","title":{"rendered":"Acute Shortage of Teachers Hits Public Schools"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. <\/strong><\/span>Primary and secondary schools countrywide face a serious shortage of teachers after the government failed to renew the contracts of numerous temporary teachers at the start of the year.<\/b><\/p>\n

Reliable sources say this state of affairs belies up to 4 000 teachers being currently out of work.<\/p>\n

The president of Botswana Sectors of Trade Union (BOSETU), Winston Radikolo, has called for urgent action to resolve the crisis.<\/p>\n

Speaking in an interview, Radikolo said the situation has worsened this year due to the non-renewal of temporary teachers\u2019 contracts. \u201cThe situation is dire and needs urgent attention,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

Special constables<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents are not attending some lessons because of the shortage of teachers. This situation is directly related to the government\u2019s failure to renew the contracts of many temporary teachers.\u201d<\/p>\n

While he acknowledged the absorption of special constables into the mainstream police, BOSETU president expressed disappointment in the government\u2019s priorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is indisputable that the police are needed for security, but teachers are even more critical,\u201d he said. \u201cEmploying temporary teachers on a permanent basis should have been a priority.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teacher-student ratio \u201coverwhelming\u201d<\/p>\n

He expressed concern about the government\u2019s lack of clarity regarding plans to address the shortage of teachers.<\/p>\n

The president of Botswana Teachers Union (BTU), Gotlamang Oitsile, expressed similar concerns, stating that the current teacher-to-student ratio is overwhelming.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe National Research Policy clearly states that for students\u2019 learning to be effective, the teacher-student ratio should be 1:30.<\/p>\n

4,000 teachers unemployed<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, what we\u2019ve gathered is that the number of students per class has increased from 30 to around 40. Most regions, if not all, are facing teacher shortages,\u201d he said, adding that BTU plans to meet with the minister to discuss solutions.<\/p>\n

A spokesman of temporary and unemployed teachers, Thabang Kopelo, expressed concern that there is no clear response to the crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been fighting this issue, but we are yet to receive any clear answers,\u201d he said. \u201cSo far, around 4,000 teachers are unemployed after the government failed to renew their contracts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lasting solution<\/p>\n

\u201cSome schools had more than 20 temporary teachers. One can only imagine what the situation is like now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Minister of Child Welfare and Basic Education, Nono Kgafela-Mokoka, recently acknowledged the issue of shortage of teachers at public schools and undertook to employ teachers to fill the vacancies.<\/p>\n

\u201cDue to the expansion of schools following increased enrolment, the need for extra teachers will be addressed by employing temporary teachers while a lasting solution is being sought,\u201d she told journalists in a presser.<\/p>\n

Source: Botswana Gazette<\/b><\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Botswana<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. Primary and secondary schools countrywide face a serious shortage of teachers after the government failed to renew the contracts of numerous temporary teachers at the start of the year. Reliable sources say this state of affairs belies up to 4 000 teachers being currently out of work. The president of Botswana Sectors […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":64260,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[234],"class_list":["post-64261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","tag-botswana"],"yoast_head":"\nAcute Shortage of Teachers Hits Public Schools - Botswana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Primary and secondary schools countrywide face a serious shortage of teachers after the government failed to renew th ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/acute-shortage-of-teachers-hits-public-schools\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Acute Shortage of Teachers Hits Public Schools\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Primary and secondary schools countrywide face a serious shortage of teachers after the government failed to renew th ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/acute-shortage-of-teachers-hits-public-schools\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Botswana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-27T17:19:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-18T20:10:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2025\/02\/sm_1740666558.52472.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/acute-shortage-of-teachers-hits-public-schools#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/acute-shortage-of-teachers-hits-public-schools\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Acute Shortage of Teachers Hits Public Schools\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-27T17:19:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-18T20:10:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/acute-shortage-of-teachers-hits-public-schools\"},\"wordCount\":436,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/acute-shortage-of-teachers-hits-public-schools#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2025\/02\/sm_1740666558.52472.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Botswana\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"files\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/acute-shortage-of-teachers-hits-public-schools#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/acute-shortage-of-teachers-hits-public-schools\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/acute-shortage-of-teachers-hits-public-schools\",\"name\":\"Acute Shortage of Teachers Hits Public Schools - 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