US embassy cable - 05GABORONE1577

UNCLAS  GABORONE 001577 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
AF/S FOR MUNCY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, BC, Economy 
SUBJECT: STUDENTS TO PAY FOR SECONDARY SCHOOL 
 
 
1. (U)  SUMMARY:  As of January 2006, students will pay to 
attend secondary schools and technical colleges in Botswana. 
The Government decided to re-introduce school fees in 
response to growing budgetary constraints.  Despite 
Government assurances that no child will be turned away for 
lack of money, reactions from national and international 
groups have been negative.  Botswana's decision to reverse 
its policy of free secondary education reflects the high 
cost of combating HIV/AIDS and its manifold impact on 
Botswana's society.  END SUMMARY 
 
STUDENTS TO PAY FOR SECONDARY EDUCATION . . . 
 
2. (U)  As of January 1, 2006, students will pay to attend 
secondary schools and technical colleges in Botswana. 
Junior secondary schools will charge P300 (USD 55) per year, 
senior secondary schools P450 (USD 82) and technical 
colleges P750 (USD 136).  Students who meet one of several 
criteria will be exempted from paying school fees.  These 
include students from families registered with the 
Government as destitute, registered orphans and children in 
need of care, and those whose parents are terminally ill and 
cannot afford to pay.  Additionally, families that earn less 
than P550 a month will pay for only one child if they have 
up to three children in school, for two if they have up to 
six in school, or for three if they have more than six in 
school.  Social workers, who are notoriously over-worked and 
under-staffed, will inherit the responsibility to apply this 
means test. 
 
THANKS TO HIV/AIDS-INDUCED BUDGET CRUNCH 
 
3. (U)  Although Government officials may be hesitant to 
admit it, there is little doubt that the rising cost of 
fighting HIV/AIDS is a key factor motivating this policy 
change.  The Government of Botswana has consistently devoted 
to education the largest share of its budget.  Nonetheless, 
the Ministry of Education's designated point person on cost 
sharing, Ms. G. Bogopa, pointed out that the Ministry was 
struggling financially.  Vital activities, such as 
facilities maintenance and professional development for 
teachers, have been canceled due to lack of funding.  With 
quality of education already in jeopardy, she indicated, the 
Ministry had little choice but to recover some costs from 
parents who could afford to contribute. 
 
UN SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR VOICES CONCERN 
 
4. (U)  The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, 
Vernor Munoz, criticized the cost-sharing plan as "a 
dangerous step backwards" during his September 26 - October 
4 visit to Botswana.  Munoz urged the GOB to reconsider its 
intention, citing the potential for school fees to depress 
enrollment, especially among girls.  In such a scenario, he 
pointed out, short-term budgetary gains would result in 
social and economic costs in the medium- to long-term. 
According to UNICEF Representative Jonathan Lewis, the GOB 
appreciated Munoz's points but had no intention of 
rethinking its cost-sharing plan. 
 
LOCALS APPREHENSIVE TOO 
 
5. (U)  While visiting Botswana, Mr. Munoz met with several 
stakeholders who share his misgivings.  Mr. Radibe, of the 
Botswana Teachers Union, confided to PolOff on October 26, 
the teachers' concern that the Government does not have the 
capacity to effectively implement the measures it has 
devised to ensure that fees do not reduce enrollment. 
RETENG, an NGO representing minority ethnic groups, and 
other NGOs also objected to the measure as likely to 
undermine efforts to eliminate poverty.  Locally elected 
officials, worried that qualified students might not be 
exempted, have questioned Ministry of Education officials on 
the subject.  Picking up on public dissatisfaction, 
opposition parties have fixed on the issue, organizing 
rallies to denounce the policy as regressive. 
 
IT'S ALL IN THE IMPLEMENTATION 
 
6. (U)  With just three months left before the scheme takes 
affect, the Government is striving to coordinate its 
implementation by the Ministries of Local Government and 
Education.  Two contacts within the Department of Social 
Welfare indicated that social workers cannot take on this 
burden without extra resources.  One remarked that "the ball 
is in the Ministry of Education's court" in terms of 
recruiting and hiring the additional staff necessary to 
administer the means test.  Ms. Bogopa, on the contrary, 
said that both Ministries were working together on the 
modalities of that recruitment exercise.  She estimated that 
the Government would hire 75 persons before year-end to help 
 
administer the cost-sharing program, and more down the road. 
The Government-wide policy of zero growth in public sector 
employment will complicate matters, however.  Ms. Bogopa 
stated that the Ministry was still debating how to comply 
with this requirement, and which, if any, jobs it could shed 
to compensate for the new ones created. 
 
COMMENT 
 
7. (U)  Critics of the cost-sharing program have reason to 
fear poor implementation of the means test.  The Ministries 
tasked with rolling out an appropriate mechanism are among 
those most plagued by accusations of corruption and 
inefficiency.  They face a very narrow window in which to 
affect the plan and will have to do so under extraordinarily 
limiting circumstances.  The Ministry of Education maintains 
that no child will be sent home for failure to pay, but that 
assurance rings somewhat hollow given that reports of 
children being turned away for non-payment of minor fees 
(akin to lab fees and gym fees in the U.S.) have not been 
uncommon.  While the Government arguably looked to the wrong 
place to find budgetary savings, ultimately this decision 
reflects the high cost of fighting HIV/AIDS and its manifold 
impacts on Botswana's society. 
 
CANAVAN 
 
 
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