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Title: | Botswana's San communities and the challenge of accessing basic education: the need for a paradigm shift |
Author: | Molosi, Keneilwe![]() |
Year: | 2008 |
Periodical: | Journal of Social Development in Africa (ISSN 1012-1080) |
Volume: | 23 |
Issue: | 2 |
Pages: | 83-106 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Botswana |
Subjects: | educational systems curriculum primary education dropouts San |
Abstract: | The San of Botswana constitute a political, economic and social minority. Despite government efforts to attract the San to embrace formal basic education, little progress has been made so far. San children continue to drop out of school in large numbers. This paper argues that these high drop-out rates should be blamed on the unresponsive nature of the country's education curriculum. San schoolchildren face several challenges, including a lack of educational resources, the absence of mother-tongue instruction, a school culture that is different from the unique way of life of the San, and the 'critical mass' effect (the fact that they are fewer in number than other groups). Thus, the San tend to view education as a remote and artificial enterprise that frustrates their efforts. The paper advocates a two-way schooling model to accommodate the San in the formal education system in Botswana. The model takes on board people's culture and values while at the same time offering Western knowledge. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract, edited] |