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Botswana: Teachers Up in Arms Over Scarce Skills Snub
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Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
16 April 2008
Posted to the web 16 April 2008
Lekopanye Mooketsi
Just like nurses, teachers are up in arms that they are not going to be paid the scarce skills allowance announced by government recently. The scarce skills allowance is going to be paid to certain government professionals following recommendations of the commission appointed to review civil servants' salaries.
While the news about the introduction of skills allowance brought joy to professionals like medical doctors, who are to get as much as 40 percent, it was all gloom among teachers and nurses who have been left out in the cold.
Yesterday, Botswana Teachers Union (BTU) president Japhta Radibe expressed bitterness at the manner the scarce skills issues is being handled. "We reject the manner in which the scarce skills allowance is implemented because it does not take everyone on board," he said.
Radibe said in the past they were told that the scarce skills allowance for teachers had been cancelled. He said no valid reasons were advanced for the move. He added that previously only teachers with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree were paid the allowance.
But BSc holders working at tertiary institutions were not entitled to the allowance. He said they took the matter to court and it ruled in their favour.
Radibe questioned why the new scheme does not cover teachers with special skills. "We are not happy about this development. We do not know why teachers were left out. There is an element of discrimination," he charged.
He said this is why other cadres are going to get as much as 40 percent. To him, this means that there are some professionals who are going to get a 55 percent increase, including the government-approved 15 percent across the board rise. He said this is mainly going to apply to people who are in E2 scale.
He further pointed out that the issue of scarce skills allowance was never negotiated with teachers. "We believe there should be a forum for discussing such issues," he said.
Radibe recalled that in 2001 the government came up with a unique pay structure, which was supposed to cover teachers, police officers and soldiers. He said the structure covered the three cadres because it was looking at the nature of their jobs.
The BTU chief said when they requested that the structure be implemented; government claimed that there was no money.
"We believe the government did not fulfill the objectives of the directive," he said, questioning whether teachers are not entitled to any allowances.
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He said in the past when teachers called for overtime allowances, the request was also rejected. Radibe insisted that teachers deserve overtime allowances because they work irregular hours. "Teachers do not have stipulated hours," he said.
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