news.thevoicebw.com/2021/11/s…

Botswana Federation of Public Private & Parastatal Sector Unions (BOFEPUSU) Secretary General, Tobokani Rari, says the local education sector environments remain volatile when it comes to issues of Safety Health & Environment.

According to Rari, schools remain the only industries that hold thousands of people at a go.

Speaking at the recent S.H.EMASTERS Schools Safety Summit Botswana, which was held under the theme, UNMUTE SCHOOL SAFETY; A SYSTEMATIC RISK APPROACH TOWARDS BUILDING A RESILIENT SAFETY CULTURE FOR ALL, Rari said the view of BOFEPUSU is that issues of Safety, Health and Environment have been greatly neglected in Schools in the country.

“It is only in the advent of Covid that the school health policies started to be developed. SHE officers got hired and deployed to schools albeit on temporary basis, COVID – 19 specific inspections got carried out. This pandemic caught Botswana off guard with respect to safety in schools and came up as a wake up call. However, teachers still use chalk and duster, which is deemed hazardous and do not have working spaces, with continuous standing and extremely uncomfortable chairs and desks,” he said.