Like many other newly independent countries of the Third World, Botswana, at independence in 1966, sought strictly utilitarian uses of education to train manpower for modernization. By the mid-1970s, however, the country had assumed a more humane development ideology, promising economic equality, democracy, and social justice. The policy of "Education for Kagisano" (education for social harmony) promoted universalization of primary education, and offered nonformal education to youth and adults, bypassed by the formal system of education. The fifth National Development Plan (NDP5), 1979-85, attempted to eradicate illiteracy by the end of the plan period. Consequently, the Botswana National Literacy Program (BNLP) was launched in 1981. By 1985, BNLP was to make all of the estimated 250,000 to 300,000 illiterate adults literate in Setswana, the most widely spoken language chosen as the language of literacy for Botswana. The goal proved to be too ambitious; however, the cumulative enrollment was close to 170,000. The sixth National Development Plan (NDP6), 1985-91, has also undertaken some bold educational initiatives. It assigns a permanent role to non-formal education in the development of Botswana, and seeks to introduce and institutionalize a new educational role within the development culture, that of the "extension educator." At this point in the life of NDP6, however, its educational initiatives remain far from implementation. (Forty-six references are appended.) (MM)