STOLEN LIVES: 10 teachers succumb to COVID-19 in a week
Covid kills 10 teachers in a week Education sector lost 40 teachers since March 2020
Botswana Sectors of Educators Trade Union (BOSETU) says around 10 teachers succumbed to Covid-19 last week alone. BOSETU spokesperson Oreeditse Nyatso said the figure is one of the highest ever recorded in a space of a week.
“Teachers are dying on a weekly basis and we realise that those mostly affected are senior management staff including school heads, their assistants and Heads of Department (HOD’s)”, he said.
According to Nyatso, this is
because senior management interacts mostly with everybody - from teachers, parents to students - on a daily basis. Unlike others, they are unable to work on a shift basis as government has suggested.
“They are mostly hands-on and their presence is needed throughout the day meaning they work from 0730hrs to 1630hrs”, Nyatso said. Botswana Teachers Union (BTU) Vice president (Primary) Bakang Bagwasi also said they are worried about the welfare of teachers in schools. “We wonder if government only cares about students and not teachers. Because they have realised that Covid-19 mostly kills older people, it appears teachers are not being prioritised”, Bagwasi said.
Bagwasi revealed that since the pandemic hit local shores in March 2020, the education sector has lost 40 teachers and the numbers keep growing as many continue to test positive to Covid-19.
“One life lost is one too many, we have been talking about noncompliance at some schools with some necessities such as sanitisers and soapy water not available.
This opens room for easy spread of the virus in schools”.
Bagwasi said they intend to meet with the Ministry of Education over the matter. “We have been in consultations with them in the past and we wish to go back to them to map the way forward”.
Meanwhile when speaking to this publication in a previous interview, ministry spokesperson Oarabile Phefo said that the Ministry of Health and Wellness was best placed to speak about anything Covid-19 related in schools.
On the other hand, the Director of Health Services Malebogo Kebabonye said any decisions to be made are always a collective decision reached by all relevant stakeholders. Decisions, she said, are reached depending on situations on the ground.