- BOTEPCO recommends stiff fines and jail time for fraudsters
The newly established Botswana Teaching Professional Council (BOTEPCO) has set and recommended fines of up to P5000 or imprisonment for three months for people found working as teachers without proper qualifications.
This was disclosed by the CEO of BOTEPCO, Dr Raphael Dingalo, when he introduced the organisation and explained its mandate at a press conference in Gaborone this week. According to Dr Dingalo, BOTEPCO intends to ensure that the quality of education in Botswana is improved.
Deteriorating
“The quality of education in Botswana is deteriorating due to a number of factors that include issues of professionalism,” he said. “BOTEPCO will license and regulate the teaching professionals. “Some of the legal provisions are that those found to be unqualified will not be allowed to practise as teachers. Those teaching without a licence will face a fine of P5000 or three month’s imprisonment.”
Dr Dingalo emphasised that BOTEPCO will work with institutions of learning to validate qualifications submitted by people applying to be licensed as teachers. Applications for registration shall be accompanied by a prescribed fee and such documentation and information as may be prescribed.
Morally upright
Also speaking at the press conference, the Vice Chairperson of the BOTEPCO Board, Mogomotsi Motshegwa, said the organisation will facilitate participation of teachers and their organisations in defining and maintaining their professional standards.
BOTEPCO is currently developing regulations and a code of ethics towards ensuring morally upright and fit professionals as teachers. Motshegwa asserted that the education sector has been marred by declining results every year partly due to poor professional standards. BOTEPCO was established in 2019 through an Act of Parliament. Its main functions are to regulate the teaching profession and maintain professional and ethical standards.
