September 30th 2016 was Botswana's 50th birthday. Botswana, a deeply impoverished country in 1966 was on that day an upper-middle income country in the world rankings. Its education expenditure was one of the highest in the world, at around 9% of the GDP. It was on record to have provided more than 90% of universal and free primary education.…

This article examines how different histories and contexts of political and educational change in Botswana and South Africa have shaped the more regular classroom practice observed in Botswana. It does this through an interpretive synthesis and comparison of four key moments of educational change in Botswana and South Africa during the twentieth…

Using a global-local dialectic approach, this paper traces the rise of the basic education programme in the 1980s and 1990s in Botswana and its subsequent attenuation in the 2000s. Amongst the local forces that led to the rise of BEP were Botswana's political project of nation-building; the country's dire human resources situation in the decades…

African higher education is currently facing tremendous challenges. The pressure and demand for access is huge. This is understandable against the background of traditionally low participation, low success and throughput rates, declining financial contributions from governments and donors, and critical pressures for efficiency, modernization,…

This paper sets forth the government of Botswana's intended policy and strategies for educational development, based on the recommendations of the Botswana National Commission on Education that were submitted in April 1977. Although implementation of all the commission's recommendations will take many years, this paper is intended to provide…

This report presents the findings and recommendations of Botswana's National Commission on Education, based on the commission's 15-month review of Botswana's education system and its goals and major problems. The commission conducted its study from January 1976 through March 1977 and gathered information through personal visits and consultations…

Examines the various reasons for the rise of Botswana, from one of the poorest countries in the world circa 1966, to its current position of relative prosperity. A prime ingredient in this progress was the incorporation of external aid into a stable system defined by a cohesive ethnic identity. (MJP)