Botswana

Partners situated in Botswana

None.

Botswana in a nutshell

(sourced from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botswana)

Source : http://www.cia.gov

Botswana, in full the Republic of Botswana (Tswana: Lefatshe la Botswana) is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Citizens of Botswana are called "Batswana" (singular: Motswana), regardless of ethnicity.

Formerly a British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966. It is bordered by South Africa to the south and southeast, Namibia to the west, Zambia to the north, and Zimbabwe to the northeast.

The country is home to a relatively stable political system and a rapidly developing economy. Being closely tied with the economy of South Africa, the country's economy is one of the most successful in Africa and is dominated by the fast-growing service sector, world-renowned diamond industry, tourism, and manufacturing.

Its population is 1.6 million.

The capital is Gaborone and the country is divided into nine districts.

Botswana education policy

Botswana has made great strides in educational development since independence in 1966. At that time there were very few graduates in the country and only a very small percentage of the population attended secondary school.

With the discovery of diamonds and the increase in government revenue that this brought, there was a huge increase in educational provision in the country. All students were guaranteed ten years of basic education, leading to a Junior Certificate qualification. Approximately half of the school population attends a further two years of secondary schooling leading to the award of the Botswana General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE). After leaving school, students can attend one of the six technical colleges in the country, or take vocational training courses in teaching or nursing. The best students enter the University of Botswana, Botswana College of Agriculture, and the Botswana Accountancy college in Gaborone. Many other students end up in the numerous private tertiary education colleges around the country. A high majority of these students are government sponsored.

The quantitative gains have not always been matched by qualitative ones. Primary schools in particular still lack resources, and the teachers are less well paid than their secondary school colleagues. The Government of Botswana hopes that by investing a large part of national income in education, the country will become less dependent on diamonds for its economic survival, and less dependent on expatriates for its skilled workers.

In January 2006, Botswana announced the reintroduction of school fees after two decades of free state education though the government still provides full scholarships with living expenses to any Botswana citizen in university, either at the University of Botswana or if the student wishes to pursue an education in any field not offered locally, such as medicine, they are provided with a full scholarship to study abroad.

Botswana education system

Public spending on education was 9.7% of GDP in 2006. There are ten years of compulsory education starting at age six. Net enrolment ratios are 85% for primary and 60% for secondary, and gross enrolment ratio for all levels combined 71% (2005). The pupil-teacher ratio for primary is 25:1 and for secondary, 14:1 (2005). The private sector provides about one-third of secondary places. The school year starts in January. The Brigades movement, now established throughout the Commonwealth, was founded in Serowe by Patrick van Rensburg to provide vocational training in skilled trades for early school-leavers.

About 5% of the relevant age group is enrolled in tertiary education (2005). There are about 30 vocational and technical training centres, four teacher training colleges, two colleges of education and one university, the University of Botswana. A second public university, the Botswana International University of Science and Technology, is set to enrol its first students in 2010, and will be located at Palapye. The Institute of Development Management accepts students from throughout the region. Illiteracy among people age 15-24 is 5.9% (2007).

The Government of Botswana's philosophy of basic education asserts that high quality education is a fundamental human right. It aims to promote all-round development of the individual; fostering of intellectual growth and creativity; empowerment of citizens to achieve their full potential; encouragement of moral, ethical and social values, cultural identity, self-esteem and good citizenship; and preparation of citizens to participate actively in further developing the principle of democracy.

In line with the government's philosophy, the Ministry of Education and Skills Development has a dedicated Special Education Division to ensure equal access to and quality of education for learners with special needs, including children with visual or hearing impairment, mental handicap, learning disabilities and physical disabilities. The ministry also offers grants to NGOs offering educational rehabilitation.

In January2009, the Ministry of Education's Teacher Capacity-building Programme for HIV/AIDS was selected as a finalist in the 2009 Commonwealth Education Good Practice Awards. Through a 'talk-back' television programme, teachers are able to confront their own fears, denial and secrecy surrounding the pandemic. The skills, knowledge and attitudes which they require are strengthened in the war against HIV/AIDS in which education plays a major role. (http://www.commonwealth-of-nations.org/Botswana/Education)

Higher education

HEIs in Botswana

The best known is the University of Botswana.

Another one is the Botswana College of Agriculture.

Botswana's HEIs in the information society

Information society strategy

Botswana established the Science and Technology policy in 1998 through which all ICT related developments could be coordinated. The development of a national ICT framework is intended to pave the way to an innovation driven economy. Botswana's first National Information and Communications Technology Policy was approved by Parliament in 2007 [Maitlamo National Policy for ICT Development 2007].

Virtual Campuses in HE

Interesting Virtual Campus Initiatives

None known.

Interesting Programmes

No programmes are known with a focus on tertiary education but the following programme is for lifelong learning and has a distance education aspect.

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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