Education Encyclopedia - StateUniversity.com :: Global Education Reference :: Botswana - History Background, Constitutional Legal Foundations, Educational System—overview, Preprimary Primary Education, Secondary Education
 

Botswana - Summary


Increase Your Salary, Get Your Degree In Your Spare Time
FREE Application to University of Phoenix for a Limited Time - Apply Here

Botswana is a unique country in Africa because of its sustained economic growth and political stability. Education is free, but not compulsory. While Botswana's government strives for universal education, there are barriers that must be overcome. In addition to overcrowded school facilities, the efficiency and effectiveness of teacher education is constrained by the centralized and hierarchical nature of educational administration. The Department of Curriculum Development and Evaluation is in charge of basic educational curriculum development with only a minimal involvement of teachers, teacher training institutions, and the University of Botswana.

Many of Botswana's problems exist because of the republic's rapid transition from a rural to a technologically developing country. While the problems are great, they do not appear to be insurmountable. The motto on the University of Botswana's Coat of Arms, Thuto Ke Thebe (Education Is A Shield), underscores the important role education has in the country.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

"Botswana." EIU Country Report, (October 2000): 5-23.

Comely, Peter, and Salome Meyer. Botswana. Lincolnwood, IL: Passport Books, 1995.

Else, David, et al. Africa-The South. Hawthorn, Australia: Lonely Planet Publications, 1997.

Mannathoko, Changu. The Role of the University Of Botswana as a Teacher Education Institution: Current Developments in Teacher Education. The World Bank Group, March 1998. Available from http://wbln0018.worldbank.org.

Shales, Melissa, ed. Touring Southern Africa. Lincolnwood, IL: Passport Books, 1977.

Stamp, L. Dudley. Africa: A Study in Tropical Development. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1961.

The Atlas of Africa. New York: The Free Press, 1973.

The 1997 Demographic Yearbook. New York: The United Nations, 1999.

The World Bank Group. Countries: Botswana, September 2000. Available from http://www.worldbank.org/afr/bw2.htm.

University of Botswana, December 2000. Available from http://www.ub.bw.


—Sherman E. Silverman

University of Phoenix
[back] Botswana - Teaching Profession

User Comments Add a comment…