Educational policy in Botswana has been shaped by various policies over the years. However, two major reform initiatives stand out from the lot. The first was the 1977 Education for Kagisano (Education for Social Harmony) and the second being the Revised National Policy on Education of 1994.
Both documents sought to take the education system of Botswana forward in years post-independence in terms of effective pedagogy and curriculum.
Among the main issues of Government Order No 2 of 1994 were; access and equity in education, effective preparation of students for life, citizenship, world of work and effective management of the education system at the time.
Having enjoyed autonomy as an independent state for years, Botswana developed the Vision 2016 in consultation with Batswana outlining targets to be achieved upon attaining fifty years of independence. The policy pillars sought to position Botswana as a place to be in the global world.
Vision 2036 has since enjoined the 2016 one and it is still in operation. Its key strategic areas are still congruent to the former like emphasis on human resource development resonating with an educated and informed nation pillar.
The two major policy documents captured above have been used to drive the education system of Botswana to date. It is imperative to highlight the emergence of the yet to be fully rolled out Education & Training Sector Strategic Plan (ETSSP) 2015-2020 by the Ministry of Basic Education with emphasis on Outcome Based Education (OBE) and new learning programmes is slowly overshadowing the initial policies in the background.
Religious & Moral Education and Social Studies are two subjects that can be used to gauge the successes and challenges of the major policies at primary school level.
It is imperative to highlight that, the inclusion of emerging issues like climate change is a welcome development in pursuit of these policies. However challenges like ineffective pedagogical practices, sex role stereotypes and little time allocated for the teaching of these vital subjects is rather short and impedes on the education policies of Botswana.
What would be your take educational policy in Botswana guys? Feel free to contribute a line.🙏🙏