- Unions blame non-renewal of temporary teachers’ contracts
- Education minister recently undertook to fill the vacancies
GAZETTE REPORTER
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 of Trade Union (BOSETU), Winston Radikolo, has called for urgent action to resolve the crisis.
Speaking in an interview with The Botswana Gazette, Radikolo said the situation has worsened this year due to the non-renewal of temporary teachers’ contracts. “The situation is dire and needs urgent attention,” he noted.
Special constables
“Students are not attending some lessons because of the shortage of teachers. This situation is directly related to the government’s failure to renew the contracts of many temporary teachers.”
While he acknowledged the absorption of special constables into the mainstream police, BOSETU president expressed disappointment in the government’s priorities.
“It is indisputable that the police are needed for security, but teachers are even more critical,” he said. “Employing temporary teachers on a permanent basis should have been a priority.”
Teacher-student ratio “overwhelming”
He expressed concern about the government’s lack of clarity regarding plans to address the shortage of teachers.
The president of Botswana Teachers Union (BTU), Gotlamang Oitsile, expressed similar concerns, stating that the current teacher-to-student ratio is overwhelming.
“The National Research Policy clearly states that for students’ learning to be effective, the teacher-student ratio should be 1:30.
4,000 teachers unemployed
“However, what we’ve 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,” he said, adding that BTU plans to meet with the minister to discuss solutions.
A spokesman of temporary and unemployed teachers, Thabang Kopelo, expressed concern that there is no clear response to the crisis.
“We have been fighting this issue, but we are yet to receive any clear answers,” he said. “So far, around 4,000 teachers are unemployed after the government failed to renew their contracts.”
Lasting solution
“Some schools had more than 20 temporary teachers. One can only imagine what the situation is like now.”
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.
“Due 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,” she told journalists in a presser.