Tensions are soaring in Serowe as parents of students at Swaneng English Medium School are protesting the dominance of foreign teaching staff in the school.
The aggrieved parents who are planning on picketing should the situation not change, are demanding that the ratio of employment of teaching staff should be changed to favour locals. Additionally, they are demanding to be shown these foreign teachers’ teaching permits as they are convinced that the school is hiring them without work permits, as well as hiring them to carry out work they were not qualified to do.
Swaneng English Medium Primary School is a community based learning institution whose operations are facilitated by a board which is elected by the staff and parents of students.
A distressed parent informed this publication that they have already tabled this grievance before the board, which has since ignored them. Following this, they appealed to the Ministry of Labour andthe Serowe North Member of Parliament who have apparently also denied them a listening ear.
According to him, the School Head, Deputy School Head and most Senior Teachers are all non-citizens.
He is convinced that the school’s founding fathers are turning in their graves since the school has now been taken over by outsiders.
To substantiate this, he submitted a note said to have been written by one Jan Hawks who was apparently a volunteer at the institution in the early 1960s. The note read “One of our aims at Swaneng Primary School was to employ more local teachers, so that eventually we would become an English-medium Primary School fully staffed by Batswana.”
In January this year, a post was advertised on Facebook for a class teacher at the school. The parent says that instead of hiring a Motswana, they chose to hire a Zimbabwean. “O ruta ngwanake gone jaana.” He cried.
Another frustrated parent stressed that they needed the labour department to confirm these teachers’ qualifications since students’ performance was dissatisfactory.
“Besides the point of too many foreigners in the school, we do not think that these teachers are qualified because our students are failing badly to the extent where almost all of us have had to hire private tutors for them. “
He says they suspect the board of being involved in crooked associations with politicians who influence them to illegally employ their foreign friends.
Currently, the parents have engaged a lawyer to break down and outline the constitution that runs the trust to establish how they can get rid of the board.
Meanwhile the Chairperson of the Board has denied the accusations laid against them by the parents.
