The Botswana Sectors of Educators Trade Union (BOSETU) secretary-general, Tobokani Rari says the Botswana Examinations Council (BEC) needs to be scrutinised for acting like an island and following own rules.

The BEC recently amended the 2022 Botswana General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) results and consequently this led to change in school performance positions. Also three coursework score components being Computer Studies, Design and Technology and Development Studies were excluded when determining syllabus grades because the components did not meet the 90% submission threshold by the end of the extended submission deadline.

In an interview with Mmegi, Rari said the BEC has a lot of flaws as reflected by the results amendment and this should be a cause for concern for everyone especially the Ministry of Education and Skills Development.

With the dramatic change of school positions, Rari said what they have been told is that students who were graded X or Q as a result of late entrances and never set for the exams were counted when schools’ pass rates were announced. He said consequently, the BEC system did not capture the true reflection of results in various schools which led to complaints. “Schools were downgraded, pass rates were untrue and results which came out were not a true reflection of students’ performance,” he said.

On the issue of the coursework assessment which was excluded when determining syllabus grades, Rari said the results are also not a true reflection because some of the affected subjects are practically dominated therefore it was wrong for BEC to base the grade solely on theory assessment.

While BEC blames the unions and teachers for late submission of students’ coursework, Rari indicated that no one wants to provide labour in a manner that does not match the remuneration they get.

“BEC doesn’t want to deal with unions but rather it wants to deal with teachers individually because individually teachers are weak, easily exploited and don’t work as a collective,” he highlighted. Rari said to avoid a similar matter from happening again this year, BEC should start negotiating with unions as early as seven months away from the start of exams. “We are ready to engage in meaningful discussions and we don’t want anything that government can’t afford,” he emphasised. Rari pointed out that unions are not impossible but ready to bend.