09 Jun 2024

Botswana Teacher Professionals Council (BOTEPCO) is determined to achieve its mandate of professionalising teaching.

Responding to questions at media briefing in Gaborone on Wednesday, BOTEPCO Registrar, Dr Raphael Dingalo said the council was working closely with education and training providers to have an input in drafting and approving of the curriculum to avoid instances where students were offered qualifications that were not at par with the approved teaching standards.

Dr Dingalo said it was possible for a teacher institution’s curriculum to be at loggerheads with the requirements of the regulator since some institutions were long registered before the governing body was established.

“We are going to be work closely with tertiary institutions that train teachers to ensure that their training was at par with what was required by the council. We will play a role in the drafting and approving of the teaching curriculum,” said Dr Dingalo.

Dr Dingalo said he was comforted by the fact that government was working tirelessly to improve Internet connectivity and accessibility across the country. He said efforts would be made to eliminate disruptions of the system, therefore teachers would be able to register from their respective localities.

He said  he was not aware of any managerial position where a person who was appointed to such a position never applied, was never interviewed and not qualified for such a position. 

He dismissed the allegations as untrue, false and malicious.

Dr Dingalo said he did not foresee a situation where teachers would resist to register with BOTEPCO. 

He said BOTEPCO was an initiation of teachers through their unions adding that their engagements had revealed  that teachers were eager to register to protect their profession.

Dr Dingalo said those not registered but found to be teaching would be fined P5 000 or three months’ imprisonment or both, while an institution/person that had engaged the services of such a person would be fined P15 000 or 12 months in prison or both.

He said BOTEPCO was established to professionalise teaching by maintaining professional and ethical standards for teachers, developing teaching standards and code of ethics and ensuring that teachers stayed true to the code of ethics and teaching standards.

He said BOTEPCO was also mandated to license teachers, establish and maintain a register for teachers and promote continued education, training and professional development.

Dr Dingalo said the process of registering BOTEPCO was started on April 1, 2023. He said BOTEPCO was moving with the changing environment in the regulated profession and the advancing technology. 

He said digitisation was their key priority.

He said BOTEPCO had found it fit to communicate extensively with all concerned stakeholders including the media as lack of communication created fear and doubt.

Dr Dingalo said education was an investment that paid off in terms of overall economic growth as well as providing foundation for development and economic efficiency and promotion of social cohesion by fostering understanding, tolerance and empathy.

He said recruitment was ongoing and running smoothly, adding that BOTEPCO approved establishment of staff was 67.

He said the development of the registration and licensing system was ongoing with different modules among them graduate, in-service, retired and student teachers, licensing of teachers and renewal of teachers licenses.

“We want teachers to register at their locality and be able to pay registration fees through digital platforms,” he said. 

He said the project of developing the system started in January.

Dr Dingalo said BOTEPCO was integrating its operations with that of other pertinent stakeholders to authenticate registration of teachers like the Depart of National Registration/Omang office, government payment system and education providers.

Dr Dingalo also said the development of national teaching standards, qualification framework and code of ethics was also ongoing.

“We are going to ensure that we are aligned to the Africa Teacher Qualification Framework for teacher quality, comparability and international mobility. We want our teachers to be recognised internationally,” he said. Ends