Botswana is a nation in Southern Africa with a population of more than 2 million people. It hosts the Southern African Development Community – Centre for Distance Education (SADC-CDE), which is supported by the Ministry of Education and hosted by the Botswana Open University (BOU), formerly Botswana College of Distance and Open Learning (BOCODOL)). 

 

School-age Population by Education Level1

229,743

 

198,890

Secondary

 

Tertiary

 

 

Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in Secondary Education
for the school year ending 20081

81.9%

 

78.4%

Female

 

Male

 

 

Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in Tertiary Education
for the school year ending 20171

29.2%

 

20.5%

Female

 

Male

 

 

Percentage of female teachers in 1

50.2%

 

42.2%

Secondary (2007)

 

Tertiary (2017)

 

 

1. UNESCO Institute for Statistics Data Centre, retrieved in March 2020

Literacy rate (2012)1

87.1%

 

86.3%

Adult (15+) literacy rate
Female

 

Adult (15+) literacy rate
Male

 

 

Economic Activity (2010)1

49%

 

64%

Adult (15+) economic activity
Female

 

Adult (15+) economic activity
Male

 

 

Political Decision Making (2014)1

10%

Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament

 

 

Life expectancy (2012)1

63

 

61

Female

 

Male

 

 

1. COL gender country profile April 2015 

 

6.3 150.0
Fixed-telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants1 Mobile-cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants1

 

 

  
1.8 77.6
Fixed-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants1 Mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants1

 

 

  
31.2 47.0
Households with a computer (%)1 Individuals using the internet (%)1

 

 

1. International Telecommunication Union (ITU) ICT Eye Country profile, retrieved in March 2020

 

Highlights

COL’s work in Botswana is primarily in the areas of gender, open/innovative schooling, technology-enabled learning and the Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth. Other priority areas include open educational resources (OER) and skills development.

Gender

  • During 2016–2017, BOU pilot-tested the Institutional Gender Scorecard for Gender Mainstreaming developed by COL. The resulting gender mainstreaming efforts will lead to gender-sensitive higher education programmes and policies.

Learn more about Gender. 

Open/Innovative Schooling

  • COL and the Ministry of Education signed a Memorandum of Understanding on SADC-CDE.

Learn more about Open/Innovative Schooling. 

Technology-Enabled Learning

  • 45 teachers from Botswana participated in the two cohorts of the Introduction to Technology-Enabled Learning (TEL) MOOC offered in 2017.
  • COL supported the development of draft OER guidelines for the ten regional operations offices of Botswana’s Ministry of Education and Skills Development by organising advocacy and sensitisation sessions. The aim of this activity was to provide direction in the use of OER for quality teaching and learning in the general education system.

Learn more about Technology-Enabled Learning.

Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth

  • Thirty-five learners graduated with a master’s degree in educational leadership at BOU after having successfully completed the programme. All graduates are in employment, and one has been admitted to a PhD programme at the University of Botswana.
  • A study comparing ODL learners at BOU and learners from a similar face-to-face programme at another institution found that ODL students had significantly lower carbon-relat­ed emissions than their face-to-face counterparts, mainly due to reduced travel requirements. Also, the ODL programme appeared to reduce the opportunity cost for ODL students, compared to the cost for face-to-face learners. 

Learn more about Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth. 

Partners

Partnerships are fundamental to COL’s work. Strategic partnerships allow COL to broaden its reach and engage at global, regional and national levels, while implementation partners support COL’s work in communities and institutions across Commonwealth Member States. Partners include multilateral organisations, regional bodies, national governments, government agencies, foundations, civil society organisations, public and private (not-for-profit) institutions and the private sector.

COL's partners in Botswana include: 

  • Botswana Open University (formerly BOCODOL)
  • Ministry of Basic Education
  • Southern African Development Community – Centre for Distance Education