CALLS TO RESIGN
The Student Representative Council (SRC) of the Botswana Accountancy College (BAC) has called for the resignation of the school’s Executive Director, Serty Leburu.
SRC president Theo Monageng says that in his view, the College Director has failed dismally in her role and it is time for her to pack and go.
In an email he sent to Leburu early this month, Monageng accused Leburu of running BAC like a little chicken house in her backyard.
“BAC is not a little chicken house behind your house! But you are running it like that. You are killing the reputation of this school mainly because of the self-centred decisions you make,” the email reads.
Monageng shared that Leburu is detached from everything concerning students at BAC. All she does is fly in and out of the country like everything is well at the college.
“You have made that position a luxurious seat whereby everything revolves around you and your colleagues. Students are dying and you seem not to be affected!” he said.
Monageng had expected that when a member of the BAC community dies, the Director would stand with the grieving family and attend memorial services or even burial. But she does not.
“We have had about three students dying due to suicide this year and she has not said anything. I personally wrote to her, asking that they look into the matter.
“I asked if she ever interacts with the students or even the SRC to understand student problems but it seems I am just noise to her ear,” Monageng said this week.
The SRC president is worried that even when he tries to reach out, Leburu does not want to hear him out. “I wonder if more students should die for the school to finally take action. Currently, there are no sports fields for all sporting codes in the school, ware bana ba tshamekele kae? What are they to do as extra activities in school?
“I am sure you know the danger of an idle mind and students here have ample time to idle mainly because we lack recreation activities. They now resort to drugs and alcohol abuse leading to them dying
or simply committing suicide,” Monageng said.
To prove that there is no working relationship between students and the College Director, Monageng said Leburu has been expected to elect an SRC member to be part of the BAC disciplinary committee but that nothing has happened so far.
“You are struggling to do that because you do not know any of the representative members of the students. Now you will have to choose using a picki picku ponki system which is a game little children play,” he said.
In response, Leburu through BAC's Marketing and Corporate Communications Unit could neither confirm nor deny Monageng's accusations that there is no working relationship between her and students.
"BAC has internal structures in place to facilitate the engagement between SRC members and the BAC Management. The structures are in place to facilitate smooth administration of students’ affairs and resolution of queries that may need to be addressed.
"Therefore, issues related to student affairs should be reported and dealt with through the set internal structures that the SRC is aware of and the SRC has always been encouraged to follow these structures," a response from BAC said. Regarding sports facilities for extracurricular activities, BAC said that it values students’ participation in extracurricular activities that aim to enhance the students living, learning, and holistic development and experience.
“The College infrastructure development master plan has recently been approved by the Gaborone City Council and as part of the BAC 2022-2027 Strategy, it will be implemented to cater to students’ sports and recreational facilities, among others.
"In the meantime, BAC partnership model has allowed the institution to collaborate with other institutions for the students to use their sporting facilities and BAC takes pride in seeing several students excelling in their respective sporting codes both locally and regionally."
SRC president Theo Monageng says that in his view, the College Director has failed dismally in her role and it is time for her to pack and go.
In an email he sent to Leburu early this month, Monageng accused Leburu of running BAC like a little chicken house in her backyard.
“BAC is not a little chicken house behind your house! But you are running it like that. You are killing the reputation of this school mainly because of the self-centred decisions you make,” the email reads.
Monageng shared that Leburu is detached from everything concerning students at BAC. All she does is fly in and out of the country like everything is well at the college.
“You have made that position a luxurious seat whereby everything revolves around you and your colleagues. Students are dying and you seem not to be affected!” he said.
Monageng had expected that when a member of the BAC community dies, the Director would stand with the grieving family and attend memorial services or even burial. But she does not.
“We have had about three students dying due to suicide this year and she has not said anything. I personally wrote to her, asking that they look into the matter.
“I asked if she ever interacts with the students or even the SRC to understand student problems but it seems I am just noise to her ear,” Monageng said this week.
The SRC president is worried that even when he tries to reach out, Leburu does not want to hear him out. “I wonder if more students should die for the school to finally take action. Currently, there are no sports fields for all sporting codes in the school, ware bana ba tshamekele kae? What are they to do as extra activities in school?
“I am sure you know the danger of an idle mind and students here have ample time to idle mainly because we lack recreation activities. They now resort to drugs and alcohol abuse leading to them dying
or simply committing suicide,” Monageng said.
To prove that there is no working relationship between students and the College Director, Monageng said Leburu has been expected to elect an SRC member to be part of the BAC disciplinary committee but that nothing has happened so far.
“You are struggling to do that because you do not know any of the representative members of the students. Now you will have to choose using a picki picku ponki system which is a game little children play,” he said.
In response, Leburu through BAC's Marketing and Corporate Communications Unit could neither confirm nor deny Monageng's accusations that there is no working relationship between her and students.
"BAC has internal structures in place to facilitate the engagement between SRC members and the BAC Management. The structures are in place to facilitate smooth administration of students’ affairs and resolution of queries that may need to be addressed.
"Therefore, issues related to student affairs should be reported and dealt with through the set internal structures that the SRC is aware of and the SRC has always been encouraged to follow these structures," a response from BAC said. Regarding sports facilities for extracurricular activities, BAC said that it values students’ participation in extracurricular activities that aim to enhance the students living, learning, and holistic development and experience.
“The College infrastructure development master plan has recently been approved by the Gaborone City Council and as part of the BAC 2022-2027 Strategy, it will be implemented to cater to students’ sports and recreational facilities, among others.
"In the meantime, BAC partnership model has allowed the institution to collaborate with other institutions for the students to use their sporting facilities and BAC takes pride in seeing several students excelling in their respective sporting codes both locally and regionally."
