Trade unions have condemned the Ministry of Child Welfare and Basic Education’s suggestion to explore the possibilities of privatising basic education.
Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) this week, Acting Permanent Secretary, Mmamiki Kamanakao made a suggestion that her ministry is considering getting rid of basic education as part of a strategy to address broader challenges faced by her ministry.
When responding to a question from Member of Parliament, Leepetswe Lesedi, on challenges faced by schools across the country and how the ministry intends to address those, the Acting PS said amongst the strategies is to privatise certain schools, which she explained could be achieved by either teachers grouping themselves to come up with private entities to take over such schools or private individuals taking up the schools.
Reacting to Kamanakao’s assertions, BOSETU Secretary General, Tobokani Rari, said the union is not in support of privatisation and capitalisation of education.
“Like we advocated when there was an attempt to amend the country’s constitution, we wanted education to become a second-generation right,” Rari said in an interview.
“If you then privatise education, it is as good as education will now be sold and when you sell it, it is not going to be accessed by many, only by the privileged.”
He said this would lead to continued inequality in society; hence, the union does not completely agree with the suggestion to give public schools to the private sector.
“We all know from the private schools that we have around the country how expensive those schools are,” he said.
“If you allow the business community to take over schools that were otherwise public schools, it would then mean that education is going to be that expensive.”
Equally, the Botswana Teachers Union (BTU) has strongly opposed a suggestion by the PS, arguing that the move has the potential to exacerbate inequality.
BTU vice president of secondary education, Galefetolwe Dithobane cautioned that delegating this responsibility to the private sector could create challenges, as private education may be out of reach for lower-income families, thereby exacerbating inequality and leading to disparities in educational outcomes.
Furthermore, she noted the impracticality of the policy, pointing out that the current annual school fees are set at P300 for junior schools and P400 for senior schools, which many parents find difficult to pay.
While acknowledging the financial pressures faced by the government, she stressed that the shift from public oversight to private management raises complex issues regarding its potential benefits and drawbacks, urging the government to work in partnership with the union to ensure that any privatization initiatives promote access and equity.
An independent academic, Professor MotsomiMarobela, said this will be tragic as many parents are already struggling with paying for private schools.
“If privatisation creeps into primary education, even more children will be left out as tuition will not be affordable,” he cautioned.
“Quality education is possible under government as long as certain prerequisites are available: decent pay for teachers, resourced schools in terms of infrastructure and technology.”
Marobela highlighted that education is a core fundamental right that cannot be left to business profiteers.
Instead of two streams of parallel education, he suggested that the government should instead combine them into a singular framework under government stewardship.
“If multimillion (pula) projects, such as building houses, schools, and clinics are given to selected private businesses, it is in reality the beginning of privatisation,” he said.
The Botswana Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU) explained that universal access to education means all individuals, regardless of social class, race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, or disability, have equal opportunities to learn and achieve their full potential through education.
The federation said this is also espoused in Sustainable Development Goal No. 4 and cautioned that Botswana, as a signatory to the SDGs, cannot be seen to be enacting anti-progressive policies, let alone conceiving them in the thought processes.
“Education remains a fundamental human right that must be guaranteed without discrimination on any basis, let alone affordability,” BFTU said in a statement.
“Privatisation of these public schools as proposed by the PS means turning education into a commodity that can be sold and this is against the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
