Botswana

THIS SPACIOUS Southern African country has a lot to recommend it. To begin with, there’s the desert: those famous red dunes of the Kalahari dominate across 70 percent of the more than 600 000 square kilometres of Botswana’s surface area. In the southwest corner, Botswana shares the desert-based Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park with South Africa. In the northwest, the spectacular Okavango Swamp, the world’s largest inland delta, attracts many thousands of visitors a year...Read more.

Primary education in Botswana lasts for seven years, leading to the Primary School Leaving Certificate (PSLE). Primary school begins at age six. Secondary education lasts for five years, and is divided into two cycles: a three-year cycle leading to the Junior Certificate Examination (JCE) and a two-year cycle preparing pupils for the Botswana General Certificate of Secondary Education. The Cambridge Overseas School Certificate at this level is being phased out, but both give access to higher education (International Association of Universities (IAU) World Higher Education Database, 2003). Higher Education (HE) is provided by 27 tertiary institutions within the country.

TYPE OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS	NUMBER OF INSTITUTIONS
Publicly funded universities	1
Publicly funded HE Institutions and Colleges	21
Privately funded HE Institutions	5
TOTAL	27

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Source: Botswana TEC questionnaire and interview response

The Tertiary Education Policy of 2008 outlines a series of policy recommendations for HE in the country. Amongst others, this policy seeks to support the creation of a single, integrated and differentiated tertiary education system. The 9th National Development Plan (2003-2009) notes a proposed increase in expenditure of secondary and tertiary education and plans to open a second public university. The Annual Poverty Report (2007) makes reference to the role of HE in expanding employment opportunities (MRCI Report).

HIGHER EDUCATION LEGISLATION	BRIEF DESCRIPTION
Tertiary Education Act (TEA) of 1999	Defines tertiary education as all post-secondary school education and training. Act defines organisation of tertiary education in the country.
Tertiary Education White Paper ‘Towards a Knowledge Society, 2008	Objective of the policy is to achieve a gross tertiary enrolment rate of 17% by 2016 and 25% by 2026

List of Statutory Bodies in the Higher Education Sector

STATUTORY BODIES	BRIEF DESCRIPTION
Tertiary Education Council (TEC)	This council, created as an Act of parliament, is responsible for registration of HE institutions, accreditation of courses, quality assurance of programmes of learning, planning and research, advisor to government, policy initiation, human resources planning and development and budgeting and funding for public tertiary institutions.
Botswana Training Authority (BOTA)	Authority’s overall task is to monitor and regulate Vocational Education and Training (VET) within Botswana.

 

Public Expenditure on Education as a % of Gross National Income (GNI)	3.3%
% Education budget allocated to higher education	12.5% (2005/6)
Loan/Grant scheme in place	Yes

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Source: SARUA (2008) – Pillay report

KEY INDICATORS	BOTSWANA
R&D Intensity [The ratio of Gross expenditure on R&D (GERD) to Gross Domestic Product (GDP)]	0.43% (2005)
ISI Output (Number of papers published in the 7500+ journals of the ISI Web of Science)	1990-1995: 280 1996-2001: 648 2002-2007: 948

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Source: SARUA (2008) – CREST Report