DEVELOPMENTAL TIMETABLES OF URBAN AND RURAL PARENTS, GRANDPARENTS AND TEACHERS IN BOTSWANA Abstract Children’s early development is sustained through multiple social contexts (original) (raw)
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Creative Education, 2013
Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programs are essential because they boost children's perceptual, physical, mental, linguistic, emotional, social and intellectual development. Despite the benefits of ECCE, such programs are accessed by just a handful of children in the context of Botswana. Hence a majority of children who are eligible for ECCE programs tend to miss out on the benefits of such programs. The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, it provides brief background information about the development of ECCE in the country. Second, it discusses why and how little attention has been paid to ECCE in the country. Third, it highlights implications of excluding many children from ECCE. The author concludes by making several suggestions that could go a long way to ensure that children eligible for ECCE have access to ECCE programs of good quality.
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The challenges of change: a tracer study of San preschool children in Botswana
2002
This report details findings of a study undertaken during 1993-1995 in the Ghanzi District of Botswana to ascertain the progress of the San children in primary school, comparing children who attended preschool to those who did not. The report also describes the Bokamoso Preschool Programme, started in 1986. Data for the study were collected through interviews with San parents and questionnaires and interviews with primary school teachers. Findings focus attention on the difficulties of the San people in responding to current demands that they earn a livelihood through agriculture rather than through traditional hunting and gathering practices. San people have found it difficult to understand and adjust to the formal system of education in which children are often sent to boarding schools far from their parents. The main findings deal with the lack of mother-tongue teaching and materials in the primary schools, the lack of cultural understanding, and the system of corporal punishment in the schools. The report concludes with 13 recommendations for improving the chances of success for San children entering the formal education system. An epilogue adds further recommendations made by the San themselves and general recommendations for governments and nongovernmental organizations in the area of education. Two appendices contain the tracer study questionnaire and additional data tables. (Contains 26 references.) (KB) Contents Chapter one Chapter two Chapter three Chapter four Chapter five Chapter six Chapter seven Epilogue Bibliography Appendix One Appendix Two Foreword I would first like to thank the staff of the Bokamoso Preschool Programme who participated in the collection of information for this tracer study during 1994 and 1995, adding the extra work into their normal working day: Gaolatlhe Thupe, Maithamako Keakopa and Qgoma Qhomatcaa were the main interviewers. They were guided in the process by Nomtuse Mbere, then working with SNV Netherlands, who acted as consultant for Bokamoso. Members of the 1994-1995 Advisory Board of Bokamoso assisted in various ways, with practical assistance in the further collection and analysis of data as well as preparation of the report. Coby Visser and Beppie Wessels volunteered many hours in collecting additional data as needed. UNICEF Botswana provided the funding for the extra field work and the printing of the initial report, and especially Philip Kgosana gave editorial assistance and general advice. Dan Chatman from Kuru Development Trust, my mother, Pollie Jerling, and Paul van Hoof (SNV Netherlands) gave editing and editorial assistance, and Jan Wessels helped to analyse the statistics. Frank van Bfissel (from SNV, then District Officer Lands, Ghanzi District Council) provided much demographic information for the background to the areas in which the study was done. The Education Officer in Ghanzi in 1995, Mr Nkete, as well as all the teachers and principals at the various primary schools in the district, are commended for their patience and kind assistance in providing information about dropouts and school statistics. I would also like to thank Mr Kelekwang at the Ministry of Education, Dr Lucy Mafela from the University of Botswana, and Mr Norman Motsoge, Education Officer in Ghanzi, for their assistance in providing information for the appendix. Without the enthusiastic participation of various preschool teachers in the settlements, as well as the parents and children who were interviewed, this report would not have been possible and would not have been worthwhile. May their willingness to share their lives and information bring some dividends to them and their children. Willemien le Roux 11 Bernard van Lee Gilossary/abbreviations Foundation ARADP Accelerated Remote Area Development Plan BDO Bushmen Development Office Bokamoso 'future' in Setswana the name was chosen for the programme in the early 1990s by trainee teachers CKGR
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The world is experiencing an increase in the numbers of children requiring care, and Botswana is no exception. There are various alternative methods used to aid vulnerable children (VC). Formal alternative care giving arrangements for children in need of care include residential care, formal adoption and guardianship sanctioned by the courts. Historically, kinship care was used to address the needs of vulnerable children. However, African societies, including Botswana are going through a process of rapid social, economic, and cultural change and families are living under extreme poverty, and finding it difficult to extend help to other relatives. Even though some alternative methods are available, there is need for them to be revisited to examine whether the best interests of the child are met. This article explores the alternative care methods for children in Botswana. It looks at the method’s strengths and challenges. Supporting vulnerable children is critical to the future of su...
International Journal of Educational Development, 1997
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