Teachers ‘getting a raw deal’

THE Teachers’ Union of Namibia (TUN) yesterday urged Government not to abandon long-serving teachers who could find themselves classified as unqualified because of an agreement last year between Government and the Namibia National Teachers Union (Nantu).

“Unfair” and “a terrible shame” was how TUN president Gert Jansen yesterday described what the union obviously regards as a raw deal. In October last year, the Ministry of Education and Nantu agreed that teachers who had not upgraded their qualifications to Basic Education Teachers Diploma (BETD) level by the end of 2007 would no longer enjoy employment protection.These teachers will then have their employment status reconsidered and their posts advertised, meaning they will be forced to compete with others for their current jobs.If reappointed, the agreement stipulates that these teachers will only be employed temporarily on contract basis.Jansen was adamant yesterday that this just didn’t cut it in the fairness stakes.”The reason for saying this is simply because prior to Independence teachers could have had a Junior/Lower Primary Teachers Certificate and they were regarded as qualified,” he told a press briefing in Windhoek.”Many of these teachers with such qualifications taught many of our people who are in leading positions in Government and civic organisations today.These teachers formed the backbone of education in this country for many years,” he said.”To not enjoy employment protection would be a terrible shame, looking at some of them who have been teaching for more than 30 to 38 years,” he added.He recommended that all teachers older than 50 should be excluded from these stipulations so that they could continue teaching until they reach retirement age.Government needed to take experience into consideration, he said, and give older teachers recognition for their qualifications gained previously.The union contended that the BETD Inset Programme was too costly for many teachers, and urged Government to rather create a study fund to assist teachers younger than 50.Loans from this fund should then be repaid through monthly salary deductions, Janse said.The union also used the opportunity to comment on the National Budget, which was tabled in Parliament last week.TUN was delighted that education once again received the greatest slice of the cake, Jansen said.Even so, he added, Government’s ETSIP education reform programme, which should have been implemented last year already, still had to become reality.”The question arises now that we are allocating so much to education but what are we getting out of it?” he said.He repeated a call made by his union last year for a national conference on education, “to define what we want to get out of our education collectively”.Motivating this idea, TUN Co-ordinator for Professional Development Kavihuha Maahongora said that ETSIP was in fact a foreign-drafted document.The general public, unions and other concerned groups were not involved in coming up with the ETSIP programme, Maahongora said.”We weren’t there to say what kind of Namibia we want in 2030.As a nation, we need to be involved in drawing up this document,” he said.In October last year, the Ministry of Education and Nantu agreed that teachers who had not upgraded their qualifications to Basic Education Teachers Diploma (BETD) level by the end of 2007 would no longer enjoy employment protection.These teachers will then have their employment status reconsidered and their posts advertised, meaning they will be forced to compete with others for their current jobs.If reappointed, the agreement stipulates that these teachers will only be employed temporarily on contract basis.Jansen was adamant yesterday that this just didn’t cut it in the fairness stakes.”The reason for saying this is simply because prior to Independence teachers could have had a Junior/Lower Primary Teachers Certificate and they were regarded as qualified,” he told a press briefing in Windhoek.”Many of these teachers with such qualifications taught many of our people who are in leading positions in Government and civic organisations today.These teachers formed the backbone of education in this country for many years,” he said.”To not enjoy employment protection would be a terrible shame, looking at some of them who have been teaching for more than 30 to 38 years,” he added.He recommended that all teachers older than 50 should be excluded from these stipulations so that they could continue teaching until they reach retirement age.Government needed to take experience into consideration, he said, and give older teachers recognition for their qualifications gained previously.The union contended that the BETD Inset Programme was too costly for many teachers, and urged Government to rather create a study fund to assist teachers younger than 50.Loans from this fund should then be repaid through monthly salary deductions, Janse said.The union also used the opportunity to comment on the National Budget, which was tabled in Parliament last week.TUN was delighted that education once again received the greatest slice of the cake, Jansen said. Even so, he added, Government’s ETSIP education reform programme, which should have been implemented last year already, still had to become reality.”The question arises now that we are allocating so much to education but what are we getting out of it?” he said.He repeated a call made by his union last year for a national conference on education, “to define what we want to get out of our education collectively”.Motivating this idea, TUN Co-ordinator for Professional Development Kavihuha Maahongora said that ETSIP was in fact a foreign-drafted document.The general public, unions and other concerned groups were not involved in coming up with the ETSIP programme, Maahongora said.”We weren’t there to say what kind of Namibia we want in 2030.As a nation, we need to be involved in drawing up this document,” he said.