US embassy cable - 05GABORONE1180

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 GABORONE 001180 
 
SIPDIS 
 
USDOL FOR ILAB 
STATE FOR AF/S - MUNCY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SCUL, ECON, ELAB, EAID, PREL, BC, Economy, Human Rights 
SUBJECT:  POVERTY AND INADEQUATE INFRASTRUCTURE HAMPER 
BOTSWANA'S DRIVE TOWARD UNIVERSAL EDUCATION 
 
REF: GABORONE 1113 
 
1. Summary:  The Government of Botswana has made 
significant headway since independence in achieving its 
goal of providing universal education to its people, 
but inadequate infrastructure and poverty impede 
further progress.  High rates of poverty and 
unemployment (reftel), particularly in rural areas, 
mean parents face challenges in getting their children 
to school, paying for uniforms and meals, and in making 
the choice to sacrifice their children's labor on 
family farms in exchange for an education.  Lack of 
sufficient classroom space, toilets, administration 
buildings, staff housing, and basic services such as 
electricity also continue to hamper the government's 
efforts.  While a high incidence of absenteeism, 
seasonally estimated in one village at nearly 50 
percent, and dropouts as well as lack of employment or 
higher education opportunities for those who graduate 
exacerbate the problems faced by Botswana.  End 
summary. 
 
Public Education and School Fees 
-------------------------------- 
2.  Public education in Botswana is free but not 
compulsory for students from primary through senior 
secondary school. Parents who are able are expected to 
pay ancillary fees for things such as transportation, 
meals and school uniforms.  The children of parents 
registered as destitute and/or as Remote Area Dwellers, 
largely made up of the ethnic minority Basarwa/San 
people, receive school uniforms, books, housing and 
meals free of charge.  However, many poor parents face 
difficulties in meeting the necessary school costs. 
This often impedes their ability to send their children 
to school. 
 
3.  To complicate this further, the MOE has announced 
that secondary school fees, which were abolished in the 
heyday of diamond revenue increases in the mid-1980s, 
will be reintroduced in 2006 for those able to afford 
them.  The Minister of Education, Jacob Nkate, has said 
that this move is part of the government's cost- 
recovery strategy in the face of declining revenue and 
greater demands on scare resources to deal with 
problems such as HIV/AIDS.  The proposal has met with 
considerable resistance from opposition parties. 
According to the government-owned Daily News, the 
President of the Botswana Peoples Party (BPP) opined 
that the fees, which will be approximately USD 60-90 
per annum, "would deny most Batswana children access to 
education as parents cannot afford to pay." Although 
the impact on attendance is hard to predict, this 
statement is an exaggeration. 
 
School Infrastructure Inadequate 
-------------------------------- 
4.  Botswana spends roughly 25 percent of its total 
annual budget on education, but only eight percent of 
its annual development budget goes to school 
infrastructure needs.  The Senior Education Secretary 
in the northwestern Okavango Sub-District, Ms. Molotsi, 
told Econoff and Pickering Fellow (who traveled 
throughout rural Botswana in July) of serious 
infrastructure inadequacies at primary and junior 
secondary schools in the district.  She said school 
construction projects have been frozen due to a lack of 
funding.  She cited 275 toilets, 97 classrooms, 20 new 
administration buildings, and 128 new staff houses as 
the minimums needed just to meet existing requirements 
and national standards for the sub-district's 29 
primary schools.  The government faces a real problem 
attracting quality teachers to rural areas where staff 
housing and basic services like electricity and running 
water are inadequate.  It is likely that the difficulty 
in attracting good quality teachers to these rural 
areas means the quality of education in rural areas 
suffers. 
 
Absenteeism and Dropouts Common 
------------------------------- 
5.  Many people live in remote villages, and access to 
secondary education is difficult.  Some students live 
as far as 120 km from the nearest junior secondary 
school.  While government provides hostels for some 
primary and secondary school students, the demand 
exceeds the supply.  Only 5 out of 22 primary schools 
in Ghanzi have boarding facilities.  Based on these 
figures, it is easy to conclude that a lack of 
transportation is one common reason why many students 
dropout of school before reaching junior or senior 
secondary school.  But there are a wide variety of 
reasons for these problems. 
 
6.  The principal at a primary school in the eastern 
village of Nata told Econoff that because of the 
financial problems of parents, and the need to have 
their children perform basic household 
responsibilities, including tending cattle and sheep as 
well as weed whacking, the absentee rate can climb as 
high as 50 percent on a seasonal basis.  The Senior 
Education Secretary in Ghanzi said that, on average, 
about 85 percent of school age children attended school 
regularly.  In addition, those children who stay in 
school but do not pass the required examinations to 
enter junior and then senior secondary school often do 
not continue their education at alternative 
institutions. 
 
A Second Chance for Dropout Students 
------------------------------------ 
7.  With the absentee and dropout rates so high, there 
is a need for services and training for those students 
who are not attending school.  Several NGOs have 
cropped up to address these issues, including Bana Ba 
Lesetsi in Maun, which works with dropout students and 
provides alternative education, and the Brigades 
Development Trusts of Botswana (Brigades), which offers 
vocational training to students who failed to reach 
senior secondary school.  The director of Bana Ba 
Lesetsi, Ms. Lilian, described the circumstances of 
many poor dropout children as extremely difficult, 
facing domestic violence, drug abuse, alcoholism, 
social estrangement, and unemployment among their 
parents. 
 
8.  The Brigades, funded by a variety of sources, 
including the government, private donors, and donor 
government agencies, are spread throughout the country 
and teach technical skills, such as basic computer 
skills, animal husbandry and entrepreneurship training. 
The MOE is currently considering restructuring the 
Brigades to improve the provision of service to these 
dropout students. A visit to the Brigade in the 
southern village of Tsabong showed, however, that these 
institutions are severely under-funded.  The Brigade in 
Tsabong has housing for only eight boys and eight 
 
SIPDIS 
girls.  It trains about 30 students a year, but 
received applications from more than twice that many. 
The director of this Brigade, Mr. Dick Mweshi, told 
Econoff that he can accept only 50 percent of the 
applications due to budget constraints. 
 
Education without Employment 
---------------------------- 
9.  Although many parents value education, the lack of 
opportunities to gain employment in rural areas 
undermines the hope for their children to move out of 
poverty.  The Deputy Council Secretary in Tsabong said 
that when he graduated from the University of Botswana 
(UB), he already had a job lined up with the 
government.  Today, he said, many UB graduates are 
returning to Tsabong without jobs, squeezing the local 
employment options for secondary school graduates and 
dropouts.  The lack of employment opportunities may 
also be undermining the commitment of parents to 
sending their children to school.  In Nata, the Social 
and Community Development Officer said that nearly 60 
percent of parents are illiterate and unemployed and 
fail to recognize the importance of a good education 
for their children. 
 
COMMENT 
---------- 
10.  The social and economic difficulties of poor 
parents undermine the GOB's efforts to meet its 
education goals.  With mounting national budget 
constraints, the government's decision to reintroduce 
school fees could mean a drop in attendance.  The 
government hopes that school fees will encourage 
parents and teachers to take greater ownership of and 
interest in their education.  However, in 1987, when 
the government abolished school fees, school enrollment 
rose sharply, raising concerns that the opposite will 
result when they are reintroduced next year.  The GOB 
needs help in providing the infrastructure required for 
its schools, the absence of which impairs the quality 
of education.  Post is exploring options for supporting 
school infrastructure needs through the Office of 
Defense Cooperation's Humanitarian Assistance Fund. 
AROIAN