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Education Access, Retention and Marginalization in Basic Education in the Post-colonial Democratic Botswana

Wed, April 17, 8:00 to 9:30am, Hyatt Regency, Floor: Bay (Level 1), Bayview B

Proposal

Objectives and Purpose:
The Republic of Botswana celebrated 50 years of independence on 30th September 2016. The socio-economic and political history of Botswana since 1966 has attracted attention and impressed the local, regional and the international community. Botswana is branded as a typical example of a progressive ‘shining example’ of a successful liberal democracy in Africa. Pansiri (2008) observes that since independence, Botswana has committed herself to improving the education system in a variety of ways including policy change.
Making reference to the goals and objectives of the 1977 Commission on Education, Pansiri (2008) further argues that although the government of Botswana embarked on universal access to basic education to ascertain that every school age going child is in school, the reality on the ground reflected that a good number of school going age children remain out of school especially those from the marginalized rural minorities such as Basarwa (Tshireletso, 1997). A case is made in this paper that although Botswana has succeeded in multiple ways to make education accessible, painful realities of educational inequalities do exist as evidenced by cases of school dropout and the nagging challenges of retention which militate against achieving the objective of educating every child.

Conceptual Framework

This paper is based on the principles of education, democracy and multiculturalism as advanced by Vincent Tinto as he addresses inclusive education from the dimension of access, retention, attainment and progression through the creation of partnerships in the education process between the leaners, teachers and parents as well as having robust curricular approaches. The paper also embraces James Bank’s approach to democratic multicultural education by looking at equity pedagogy, prejudice reduction, empowering school culture, re-examining the knowledge construction process as well as content integration especially when teaching diverse children. Within this conceptual framework, a case is made that there is need to educate all children despite their socio-cultural backgrounds by integrating content and modifying pedagogy amongst others so as to educate from the dimension of democratic inclusion. Boikhutso and Jotia (2013) note that the pluralistic nature of Botswana cannot be ignored and that to ignore it will be tantamount to imposing undemocratic homogenous identity through education especially amongst the non-Tswana speakers.

Modes of Inquiry/Data Sources:

Stakeholder engagement or collaborative relations in policy formulation is vital in any organization especially in education since there are various players involved. In order to develop an inclusive and coherent model for widening access and increasing retention in Basic education in Botswana, a consultative seminar with stakeholders was held to reflect on the current situation as well as pondering over the modalities which could be put in place to ameliorate the current state of affairs. The stakeholder’s seminar opened very transparent, legitimate and productive lines of engagement and communication regarding the status of access, retention and drop out/withdrawal in Basic education. The composition of the stakeholders included thirty-two (32) officers in the field of education in various regions in Botswana whose designation include Teachers, Deputy School Heads, School Heads, Principal Education Officers I and II, Out of School Education and Training Officers, Chief Education Officers, School Inspectors, Guidance and Counselling Officers, Heads of Departments (Infant and Learning Disabilities), Senior Teachers, Senior Education Advisors (Ministry of Education and Skills Development), Officers and Coordinators of Education & Training Sector Strategic, Curriculum Development Officers, Regional Performance and Improvement Coordinators and Teachers Union Representatives (BOSETU). Data was also collected from Central Statistics Botswana.
Results/Substantiated Conclusions:
Evidence from this study as well as from Statistics Botswana, reflects that about 5-10% of the school going age children in Botswana in general are missing from school and that about 1% of primary school children withdraw from school annually. As if not enough, there is some further revelation that about 25% of junior secondary school students withdraw in every form and senior secondary school students withdraw annually from school at a percentage of between 11-13%. The study also reveals that students withdraw from school due to a variety of reasons such as truancy, pregnancy, corporal punishment, linguistic mismatch in the curriculum, poor school climate, abuse by teachers, poor achievement, long distance to and from school, amongst others.
Scholarly Significance:
The study reveals educational inequalities and triggers the need for a paradigm shift when designing education in a multiculturally diverse democratic society such as Botswana. The study will also promote a debate on the rethinking of issues of access and retention in Basic Education in Botswana.
References
Boikhutso, K. and Jotia, A.L. (2013). Language identity and multicultural diversity in
Botswana. International Journal of Lifelong Learning. 32 (6) 797-815.

Pansiri O.N. (2008). Improving commitment to basic education for the minorities in Botswana: A challenge for policy and practice. International Journal of Educational Development, 28: 446 – 459.
Tshireletso, L. (1997). They are the government’s children: School and community relations in remote area dweller settlement in Kweneng District – Botswana. International Journal of Educational Development, 17: 173-188.

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