Botswana

Higher education

Universities in Botswana

(this is an important section)

Virtual Campuses in HE

Interesting Virtual Campus Initiatives

None known.

Interesting Programmes

At several places in rural Botswana, digital citizenship and participation is becoming more and more tangible through an ambitious national development initiative. With the so-called Kitsong Centres, Botswana has mobilised a project for the establishment of information centres equipped with a broad range of digital services across the country, including access to local and community information; eGovernment offerings such as requesting birth certificates , passport applications and school registration; as well as access to distance learning facilities. At the moment 25 centres are functional – most of them in post offices – and an additional 25 centres are being set up.

Botswana Technology Centre

The Botswana Technology Centre (BOTEC) is the initiator of the Kitsong Centres. It is a research and technology organisation that was established by the Botswana government in 1979 and operates under the Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology. BOTEC supports the national development goals by aligning research, science and technology products and services with the Botswana Vision 2016 ideals and the National Development Plans. With the Kitsong Centres (knowledge centres), BOTEC embarked on a project to develop a computer communication system that enables access to integrated e-mail and online information for rural people in Botswana, with emphasis on the online dissemination of locally generated, user-friendly, relevant information and knowledge resources. The idea is to collect, store and use locally generated information relevant to specific community needs. There are 25 centres throughout the country, which have been made part of the Botswana postal system. Their location makes it possible for the community to access them easily. The post charges ten Pula (P 10.00), which is about US$ 1.00 for one hour’s use of the workstations connected to the Internet. BOTEC decided to give the centres the name "Kitsong Centres" to try and associate them with "acquiring knowledge" for the socio-economic development of rural communities.

Interview with Ms Leatile Nthaga, an IT consultant from the Botswana Technology Centre (with acknowledgements to eLearning Africa)

eLA: Ms Nthaga, with the so-called Kitsong Centres, the Government of Botwana, together with BotswanaPost, is about to implement a large network of rural facilities to drive ICT usage in the country, especially in remote areas. What are the main challenges to be addressed in your centre or in the others you know?

According to studies done by BOTEC, computer illiteracy in rural communities is one of the inhibiting factors delaying the uptake of computer services. To intercede with dedicated trainings, though, is the main future objective. The fact that the patrons of these centres are young people up to 40 years of age shows the need of bringing the adult community onboard. Another task is to address and to invite women to actively participate in the field of ICT. Female patrons running such a facility, for example, are generally fewer compared to male patrons, though they make up the majority of the population in the rural villages.

eLA: What role does eLearning play in your centre? How many people use it and for what purposes?

The Kitsong Centre in the village of Sikwane is used mainly by students of institutions of higher education. These are the University of Botswana and the Limkokwing University of Technology. Members of the public use it for research and communication over the Internet. Since these are public facilities, there is no particular eLearning programme that is run by the centre. Patrons use it to access eLearning materials offered by other institutions. Some use it to access accounting programmes, like AAT, run by other institutions.

eLA: About half the number of the intended Kitsong Centres have opened in the last few years. What would you say are the basic findings and achievements so far?

I think the project has been able to mobilise a significant number of people in villages to use the centres, and these numbers continue to grow. On the one hand, the communities have been sensitised about the value of ICT services to improve their lives and business activities. On the other hand, the Kitsong initiative enhanced the awareness of various corporate stakeholders about the potential benefits of ICT to rural communities and how they could be used to enhance service delivery in those places. And it also gave clear indicators about the need for additional sensitisation or training of the communities still needed in order to appreciate ICT applications

eLA: Where is the future of the Kitsong Centres going?

It is evident that there are growing information needs in the rural areas. Therefore, the Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology has now started rolling out the Kitsong Centres throughout Botswana. These centres have been made part of the Botswana Postal Services (BPS). However, as BPS has 113 offices and only 25 Kitsong Centres have opened their doors so far, much potential is left to drive the initiative forward. The most salient needs I see are to offer trainings for ICT usage as well as making more local content available in each village.

eLA: Ms Nthaga, many thanks for your time!

Re.ViCa Case-study

None.

References

1. Rural Botswana Goes Online, eLearning Africa, http://www.elearning-africa.com/newsportal/english/news176.php

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