Botswana's education system, like many other African systems, is greatly influenced by western educational ideas and models. This article reviews Botswana's education system by examining the policies, models and ideas that have influenced its development. Specifically, the review involves tracing the development of the education system of Botswana…

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.…

A reanalysis of colonial education is necessary in order to highlight its multifaceted and hybrid nature in specific colonial contexts. Although in general, colonial education served the socio-political needs of the colonial machinery, the colonial government's hegemonic authority over the school curriculum did not operate as a totalising project.…

In this review the authors considered all the documents pertaining to the teaching of reading in Botswana primary schools from independence to the present. The purpose was to get the big picture with regard to the status of reading education. The results are reported in four categories: (1) Reading in the Classroom; (2) Reading and Policy; (3)…

The Teacher Education and Development Study (TEDS-M) is the first crossnational study to examine the mathematics preparation of future teachers for both primary and secondary school levels. The study, conducted under the auspices of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), collected data from…

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,…

Less than 1 percent of children in sub-Sahara Africa currently attend formal care and education programmes, but the number is expected to increase substantially following large investments in the sector. To date, however, little attention has been given to the contents of these programmes. This article seeks to begin addressing this lacuna,…

This paper traces the development of the educational system of Botswana, a small south African country of one million, emphasizing its democratic origins and customs, historical influences, social trends, and economic support. Changes in the educational system, especially in universal primary education, since its independence from Great Britain in…

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)

Botswana is a landlocked semi-arid country sharing boundaries with Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Setswana and English are the official languages, with English being the most used as the language of government and business transactions. In comparison to most African countries, Botswana is culturally homogenous, and nearly 80% of the…