A legal setback has not deterred 25 Seventh-day Adventist college students who are seeking exemptions from classes scheduled on Saturday, their day of worship. The students, from Mater Spei College, Francistown, Botswana, were suspended by school administors earlier this month for staying away from Saturday classes.

A lawyer for the students had asked a court to order school authorities to allow the students to return to classes while negotiations continue. But in his July 5 decision, the judge denied this request. Pastor O. Simankane, president of the Adventist Church in the North Botswana region, explains that the request was rejected because the students were minors, and “legally speaking could not sue or be sued.” The judge also said the students had not given the required 30 days notice of the suit.

Parents of the students do not consider their case closed, says Simankane. “The judge’s ruling simply means that the affected students and their parents are going back to the drawing board with their lawyer to follow procedure so that their case can be heard.”

Along with the students, an Adventist teacher at the college has also been told by school administrators that they will not accommodate her Sabbath-keeping. Following her refusal to teach classes scheduled on Sabbath, she has been given 21 days in which to write to the authorities to show cause why she should not be disciplined.

“The Education Act and our national Constitution are all clear about freedom of worship,” says Simankane. “That’s why even in the school calendar, both Saturday and Sunday are not included as days on which classes are to be conducted. The problem here is one of leadership style of the headmaster [at Mater Spei College].” Simankane also points to a 1996 circular sent from the ministry of education to all schools in Botswana directing them to accommodate the religious convictions of Adventists.

Simankane says that he is working with the Eastern African Association of Adventist Lawyers to help chart the way forward. He reports that the case had now been referred to the government ombudsman, “to help us handle the matter and work out, hopefully, an amicable solution.”