Unesco Unevoc Meeting

UNESCO –UNEVOC MEETING

Nairobi, Kenya 13-16 December 2011

SECOND DECADE OF EDUCATION FOR AFRICA

PLAN OF ACTION (2006-2015)

Case Study on the Progress of TVET Developments in Botswana

Compiled by Matthews Phiri

Executive Coordinator, Botswana Training Authority

1 GENERAL CONTEXT

1.1. Political and Socio-Economic Context

In 1885 Botswana was what was known as Bechuanaland Protectorate of Great Britain. The protectorate maintained a degree of independence even though administered by Britain. By the 1930s there was growing dissatisfaction with British protection and an increasing nationalism among Batswana expressed through tribal leaders who exercised considerable power at local level. Bechuanaland attained self government in 1965, becoming the independent Republic of Botswana on September 30, 1966 and maintaining a position of stability and harmony ever since. Botswana practices multi-party democracy holding elections consistently every five years since independence and the last elections having been held in 2009.

Driven by diamond mining, the country has been performing well economically with significant investments in human and infrastructure development. Most communities have access to schools, healthcare facilities (within 15km) and safe drinking water (81%). Literacy rates are quite high at 90 percent and total enrolments stands at 100 percent with a guarantee of free education for every child. National development strategies are guided by the country’s Vision 2016 Strategy Goals. The vision aims to eradicate absolute poverty by 2016. Poverty remains high but the proportion of people living below the poverty datum line has fallen from 59% in 1985/86 to 30.2% by 2009.

1.2. Population and demographics

The 2011 Census preliminary results show the population of Botswana to have grown to slightly above two million people. The country has a long history and a rich culture that determines the behaviour and attitudes of its people. The people of Botswana are known as Batswana. They comprise a number of different ethnic groups. Over 70% of the population speaks Setswana which is the national language although English is the main medium used in government and business. About 87% of Batswana reside in the more fertile eastern regions where land and water resources are best. According to the 2006 Demographic survey, the majority of citizens (59.6%) live in cities/towns and urban villages.

2 1.3. Economy and Labour Market Indicators

At the time the country obtained independence in 1966, agriculture was the most dominant economic sector at 43% of real GDP. None of the other major sectors in the economy contributed more than 10% of real GDP. By 1986 mining was the dominant sector at 47% of real GDP while agriculture had declined to less than 5 percent. The focus of government policy for the past 20 years has been on diversifying the economy from the dominant mining sector through the Botswana Excellence Strategy- A Strategy for Economic Diversification and Sustainable Growth. According to the Formal Sector Employment Survey, total formal sector employment increased by 2.2% from 301 978 persons employed during March 2007 to 308 617 in March 2008. In absolute terms 6,639 additional jobs were created during this period. Number of informal businesses is estimated to have increased by 72% from 28 726 to 20 421 between 1999 and 2007.

Indicator Data Economic status GDP growth rate in 2009 or in most recent specified year Not provided. GDP per capita US$1000 US$1,3416

Labour market status Unemployment rate (actively seeking work) 17,5% (2005/6)

Total unemployment rate Female unemployment rate 31.6% Male unemployment rate 19.7 %

Youth unemployment rate 15-19 years (actively seeking work) 68.4% 15-19 (including discouraged workseekers) 15.3% 20-24 years (actively seeking work) 55.4 %

Female youth unemployment rate (12-29 years ) 26.7% 15 – 24 years 53.7% Male youth unemployment rate (12-29 years) 34.9% (15-24 years) 49.1%

Percentage of population in age group of working population 31.8 %;

3 15-64 years 41.1%

Life expectancy 54.4 years Males 48.8 years Females 60 years

1.4. Educational attainment of the population

The 2003 Literacy survey indicated a national literacy rate of 81% compared to 68.9% in 1993. The data revealed that the proportion of the population 12 years and above who never attended school decreased significantly as compared to 1993. Major reasons for never attending school were: parents were unwilling and looking after cattle. The survey indicated that 10.7% of the eligible population never attended both formal and non-formal schools for reasons ranging from lack of time, not interested, not aware of facilities to parents not interested. The majority of those who left school before completing Standard 5 were females. Reasons for leaving school before completing Standard 5 were: loss of interest in school, lack of money, looking after cattle (affecting mostly males), and taking care of ill family members (affecting mostly females).

Educational status Primary school completion rate 92% Female primary school completion rate 94.1 % Male primary school completion rate 89.9 %

Secondary school completion rate Female secondary school completion rate Secondary School Completion rate is not Male secondary school completion rate reported on.

Adult Literacy rate 83.3% Female adult literacy rate 83.5% Male adult literacy rate 83%

Transition rates Transition rate from primary to secondary 96.9%

Transition rate from secondary to TVET (including horizontal transition) Not available Transition rate from Senior Secondary to

2. POLICY DEVELOPMENT – OBJECTIVES, INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORKS, MECHANISMS, PRIORITIES

4 Key Policies and Acts pertaining to TVET in Botswana are: the Revised National Policy on Education RNPE (1994), the National Policy on Vocational Education and Training (NPVET, 1997), the Vocational Training Act (VTA, 1998), which replaced the Apprenticeship and Industrial Training Act, the Tertiary Education Act (TEA, 1999) and the Tertiary Education Policy (TEP, 2008) as well as the National Human Resources Development Strategy (2008). The RNPE gave impetus to the development of the NPVET, a policy which led to the formulation of an Act, which established the Botswana Training Authority. The RNPE also recommended the formation of the Tertiary Education Council, through the TEA. The RNPE thus used two different approaches to the establishment of two similar bodies with similar mandates.

The country has now developed a Human Resource Development Strategy which has indicators to monitor performance at all levels of education and training. The strategy will have a legislation, Human Resource Development (HRD) Act, which will repeal both the VTA and the TEA.

Institutional Framework

3. Technical and VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Botswana Brigades have for the past 35 years provided together a large portion of TVET in Botswana. They are governed by community elected Boards of Trustees, complemented by ex officio’s from amongst others, the Kgotla (Chief’s representative). Since the takeover of most of the Brigades by the Government of Botswana that commenced in 2008, the Brigades are governed directly by the Ministry of Education and Skills Development (MoESD) and managed through an appointed Principal and Senior Management team. This is through implementation of recommendations of a study on Brigades (FAS 2001) which

5 found governance at the level of the villages wanting, and identified poor financial oversight as one of the shortcomings of the system. The process of Brigades take-over by Government is still ongoing, but at a slower pace, because of limited budget allocations and limited allocation of staff positions.

Under the new governance arrangements there is no autonomy for Brigades, and they will be centrally governed as public Technical Colleges and other public training institutions. Brigades that are taken over by government change their structure with the Coordinator becoming a Principal, and the rest of the organisation following in a gradual manner. Their previous relative autonomy in decision making on issues of amongst others development of programmes, teaching and learning is thereby reduced. The role of management of public institutions is restricted to identifying and suggesting new areas of training, student advertising and admission within agreed limits and guidelines, and budget spending within allocated budget votes.

Those Brigades who have already been taken over by Government have informally expressed some dissatisfaction with the loss of autonomy and the reduction of their community role with regards to provision of goods and services.

The established mechanism consists of government prescribed strategic TVET planning processes at institutional, agency and national level, which are aligned to the National Development Plans, cascading down and reporting upwards. Agencies involved are DTVET, MTTC and CITF and BOTA. The new mechanism involves the Human Resources Development Council, which will include a Labour Market Observatory, and aims to increase not only accountability to long term national strategies, but also to changing labour market demands. This last approach will be sector based, with sectoral plans informing training demand. This will require a very responsive policy environment, which requires quite different planning and accountability processes and procedures.

The rationalisation of Technical Colleges and Brigades (MoESD, DTVET 2010) aims for public providers to offer programmes which best match their resources, geographical location and community livelihood, to create more efficiency in programme delivery. This does not necessarily mean institutional autonomy, but may lay the groundwork for that.

Public Institutions are headed by a Principal, who is assisted by a senior management team which comprises of two deputies, all heads of department, a bursar and a supplies officer. For diploma offering institutions the minimum requirement for one to be a principal is a Masters degree and for certificate offering institutions it is a first degree. The issue of necessary qualifications in public TVET institutions is quite complex, because most officers have dual qualifications, as professionals within their respective occupations and secondly as lecturers. Any training considerations or promotions are based on these two. However, as they go up the promotion ladder, they find themselves in management positions which they were not initially trained in or prepared for.

Recruitment and promotion of permanent and pensionable staff in public institutions is a centralised function, executed by the Directorate of Public Service Management (DPSM).

6 Most of the decisions that principals have to make are prescribed by Government through Circulars, Directives etc. while the use of funds is predetermined through allocation of funds to votes that the principals themselves cannot change. This leaves principals with very little latitude if any to be innovative. Initially college principals used to hire temporary teaching staff as and when need arose. This activity has now been centralized and it is being done by the HRM & D division at DTVET Headquarters.

Curricula are developed centrally, as follows:

BTEP programmes are developed by the Programme Development and Delivery Unit in DTVET, which has recruited and developed specialist staff to this effect.

Trade Test and National Craft Certificate Programmes have been developed by MTTC under the Ministry of Labour, but have not been reviewed for quite some time. Trade test programmes prescribe training delivery through training standards made available to the providers.

There are many different ways in which other institutions deal with curriculum decisions. E.g. agriculture training is tuned to the strategic plans for farming and the needs of farmers through assessment by extension specialists, who then compile short term training programs. However, these will in the foreseeable future be replaced by unit standards based programs. Brigades and Apprentices in public Technical Colleges follow curricula developed by Madirelo Training and Testing Centre (MTTC) under the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs. The Construction Industry Training Fund (CITF) runs short courses directly linked to specific skills demands in the construction industry. The BTEP curricula are developed centrally by a team of experts in consultation with industry and other stakeholders, and decisions with regards to what programme to run in which College are taken by the headquarters in DTVET.

4. MATCHING VET PROVISION (SKILLS) WITH LABOUR MARKET NEEDS (JOBS)

The National Human Resources Development Strategy “Realising our Potentials”(2009) provides the basis for “matching skills with national labour market requirements and promoting individuals’ potential to advance and contribute to economic and social development”. This strategy reflects government thinking that this is an “essential requirement to move Botswana’s development trajectory forward” (NHRDS 2009p 16). The Strategy introduces the terminology of Skills Training and Development, which “embraces apprenticeship, work based learning and general skills development both in and outside the workplace.” (NHRDS 2009 p.17), but falls short of including all TVET under this concept. The definition of Tertiary Education includes “technical and occupational specific programmes” beyond the level of senior secondary education. (NHRDS 2009 p16).

Several organisations including BOTA, DTVET and some institutions undertake tracer studies periodically. BOTA undertakes tracer studies every two years (last one in 2010) and disseminate information on what skills are still relevant and needed by the employers. BOTA also conducted a skills forecast study (2010) which identified critical and priority vocational

7 skills required by industry. In November 2010 a Labour Market Observatory (LMO) was established and launched by the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning. The two main features of this are the LMO website (www.botswanalmo.org.bw) and the Labour Market Information System (LMIS).

5. ALIGNMENT WITH AU PLAN OF ACTION

Botswana Progress Update on the Action Plan Thematic/Priority Areas

5.1 Equitable Access for all, including girls and women

Botswana has experienced good growth in its vocational training system. There has been a shift in government policy regarding involvement of the private sector in training. A deliberate approach of recognizing and providing a conducive environment for private sector training has been taken. There is still a problem of integrated and consolidated data on enrolments in TVET. The Botswana Training Authority(BOTA) does collect data on only its accredited institutions including those of government and private institutions.. The Department of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (DTVET) also collects some data on enrollments by institutions. Table on 1.4 gives some information on access equity.

BOTA Enrollments Data

Enrolment based on BOTA (2005) Baseline survey. The total enrolment for all the sampled TVET institutions was 28,049 for the year 2005. This survey was mainly done to determine the size of the vocational training sector in Botswana.

BOTA collects data on its accredited institutions only on annual basis. The results are based on the information received from 79 institutions. 140 institutions were offering short courses which ranges from 1 day to a maximum of 2 weeks. These were mostly the private and consultancies. Other institutions though accredited could not provide information. 23 institutions could not be reached and were consequently excluded from the list. 14 institutions failed to respond in a given period despite the several follow ups that were made. In addition 8 institutions were excluded because there were either new or had no enrolment in the past year.

The 79 institutions that responded were made of 31 private, 32 were community commonly known as Brigades, 7 public, 5 workplaces, 3 Non Governmental Organisations, (NGOs) and 1 parastatal. The figure below shows the percentages of the responded institutions by type.

8 Percentages of the responded institutions by type

The enrolments from these 79 institutions gave a total of 20 271 as shown in the table below:

Enrollments by type of institutions, Gender and Graduates

Institution by Students not Graduates Type Graduating 2010 M F M F

Private 3177 5506 1364 2917

Brigades 4133 3145 1921 1425

Public 1214 1078 319 109 Work-places 212 94 57 71

NGO 64 126 7 65 Grand Total

9 8800 9949 3668 4587

The table above shows that the number of females in BOTA accredited institutions is more than the number of males which is a shift from past scenarios. This could be attributed to the increase in provision of soft skills by institutions.

DTVET Enrollments Data.

DTVET policy division Institutional Capacity and Utilisation, January 2010 indicates

Private enrolment figures: Private institutions 23%, NGOS 27%, Company training 6% female private enrolment figures: Private institutions 30% NGOS 1.5%, Company training 3.9% male private enrolment figures: Private institutions 15.7%, NGOS 1.6%, Company training 7.4%

As at 30th September 2011 there were 2450 programmes accredited by BOTA. These programmes are certificate level courses. Some of the programmes are short courses and BOTA has seen tremendous growth in these. It will also be noted that conventional institutions nowadays are reviewing their modes of delivery for their programmes by offering stand alone modules. BOTA is also implementing recognition and accreditation of competencies and prior learning. This is at very low levels though. The Authority is undertaking a study to of the informal sector training needs which include indigenous/traditional skills as well as to develop strategies to skills training.

5.2 Quality and Relevance of National TVET systems and programmes

The Botswana National Development Plan 10 (NDP10) (2009 - 2016) suggests that parts of NDP9 were not implemented and advocates improvements in the quality of education, rather than just quantitative improvements; the use of assessment to improve standards and generally improving the relevance of education. Other significant documents are the Education Public Expenditure Review Government of Botswana 2007 which underpins the need for the development of quality in the system; and Vision 2016. Vision 2016 again, states that the development of quality in the education system is the major goal of education policy. TVET quality assurance systems (BOTA and QAA) are not integrated, and are not aligned with an overarching QA system. But generally the quality assurance systems that are in place in TVET are fairly advanced and have some mechanisms for co-ordination and coherence.

The BOTA quality assurance system entails:

 Quality Assurance of Training Institutions: This area involves registration and re- registration, accreditation and re-accreditation of vocational training institutions (providers) and assessment centres,

10  Quality Assurance of Awards: to facilitate the development of national vocational training standards and qualifications through the provision of technical services and advice to vocational Standards Setting Committee, Standards Setting Task Forces (SSTF) and other technical structures which will ensure the establishment of quality, competitive and world class vocational standards and qualifications.

 Quality Assurance of Unit Standards and National Vocational Qualifications: putting in place procedures and processes for the development of a quality vocational awards system in accordance set technical specifications and criteria.

DTVET quality assurance system

This is done mainly for the DTVET programme known as Botswana Technical Education Programme. The quality assurance system for the BTEP programme in Technical Colleges is defined by a set of criteria, and the Quality Assurance and Assessment (QAA) Unit and Technical Colleges as providers have corresponding responsibilities for these. The system entails:

 Validation of BTEP qualification  Approval to be a BTEP centre  Approval to offer specific BTEP qualifications  Internal verification of internal assessment  External verification of internal assessment  Quality Assurance of assessment of the Integrated Projects  Monitoring of all quality assurance elements.

Many private training institutions run international franchise programmes, such as City and Guilds, ICM (UK) etc. QA for such programmes forms part of the franchise arrangement, and often follows similar principles. The BOTA Baseline Survey (2006) shows that 12% of the institutions have courses accredited by Pitman (UK), 9% with City and Guilds, and MTTC and QAA 8% and 7% respectively. It should be noted however that these last categories enroll the largest number of trainees (54%). MTTC and CITF have their own assessment regulations, and are covered by the BOTA QA procedures and regulations.

The Ministry of Education has developed a blueprint National Credit Qualification Framework (NCQF). Currently the legislation for NCQF and establishment of a national qualification Authority are at an advanced stage. It is intended to have these finalized and operational by mid-year 2012.

Labour Market.

11 On the issues of the labour market, as stated before, several tracer studies have been undertaken on the sector. BOTA undertakes tracer studies every two years latest being that of the year 2010. DTVET had done a BTEP tracer study in 2006. The Construction Industry Training Fund also undertook a tracer study in 2005. BOTA also conducted a study in 2010 to identify critical skills for the economy and those that are priority. The government also has established a Labour Market Observatory which can be accessed at its website www.botswanalmo.org.bw. The LMO serves as the marketplace for job seekers and employers who can both register their needs on the website. There is need for coordination of such efforts to produce national figures for use by all.

5.3 Non Formal Education: Literacy and TVET; Vulnerable Groups

The first objective for TVET in NDP 10 aims to ensure that all graduates of the system have the necessary knowledge and skills to enter self employment (NDP 10).

The Informal Sector Survey 2007 collected data on the training that informal business operators have gone through, and what their training needs are. Informal sector operators with no training accounted for 74.1% which shows that there is a positive correlation between informal business operators and having no training (Republic of Botswana 2009, p16). This may also be interpreted as informal sector operators being in that sector because they have less chance to operate in the formal sector. 17.6% of informal business operators had a certificate. 45.3% of these had a Brigade or other vocational certificate (Republic of Botswana 2009, p17). While informal sector businesses did not state training as one of the most useful requirements, when specifically asked about training requirements the largest section of respondents (34.3%) mentioned bookkeeping/ financial/ accounting skills, while 27% mentioned managerial skills. Only 16.3 % of informal sector respondents mentioned technical training as a requirement.

There are currently two institutions that do education and training for vulnerable groups in Botswana. These are for those whose hearing and speaking is impaired. The institution though starts from lower levels (Primary) to higher skills training of learners. Generally there is still much to do in terms of skills for vulnerable groups. A few private companies do on- the–job training for vulnerable groups such as one for diamond sorting in Gaborone.

5.4 Capacity Building

Data indicate that around 73 % of BOTA registered trainers has no teaching or training qualification (BOTA, 2009). This skills gap is widest in Brigades and private training providers. Most, if not all, of these trainers, however, have developed relevant competences on the job, but are not recognized as qualified trainers since they have not undergone formal teacher training. BOTA has accredited about 898 trainers and assessors as at September 2011 and had 3 684 trainers registered on provisional basis.

TVET instructor training enrolment by level

Institutions Distribution by Highest Vocational Qualification Total Without Training or

12 Doctorate Masters Degree Diploma Certificat Teaching e Qualification.

Brigades 756 (84.09%) (All) 0 5 78 347 469 899 of the 899 trainers)

Technical 210 (50.97%) Colleges 1 41 164 157 49 412 of the 412 trainers

Total 1 46 242 504 518 1311 966 (73.68%)

The newly built Francistown College of Training and Vocational Education and other public and private providers are expected to soon be able to offer a 1 year National Certificate in Vocational Education and Training, a unit standards-based teacher training programme to facilitate implementation of RPL/RCC assessment, aimed at closing the skills gap with regard to vocational qualifications. The certificate programme (still in draft) seeks to equip trainers in vocational training institutes, in government training departments, and in private and parastatal organizations with skills aligned to the requirements of a trainer standard. Furthermore a recently launched project. The Best Education for Africa’s Rise (BEAR) project between Botswana, UNESCO and the Repulic of South Korea aims to develop capacity of TVET trainers to deliver TVET programs and this will be mainly on the tourism sector which has risen to be the country’s second foreign income earner.

5.5 Financing TVET

Given below is the figures for 2009/10

a)Government Subvention for Botswana Training Authority 2009 P25,466,790

b) DTVET (MoE) P488,494,570 (including running costs of Technical colleges and Brigades)

c) MTTC (MLHA) Project cost P259,639 Recurrent costs not available

d) CITF (MLHA) P14,358,801

Roughly 25% of total Government expenditure is on education; Total Education budget MoE 2009/10 P7,569,863,180. The amounts stated under provide d above give an insight on the proportion of the Government Budget that is spent on TVET.

13 It should be noted that these amounts are spent under the budgets of different Ministries, not only the MoESD. Some TVET expenses are under MLHA and some under other ministries like Health, Agriculture, Transport

e) Private Sector

BOTA established a fund, the Vocational Training Fund, in 2008. The fund is financed through a levy imposed on employers that have a turnover of P500 000 or more. By March 2011, the total amount of money collected into the fund amounted to P401,44, 814,81 with a total of P54, 856, 692, 77 having been paid out as reimbursement to 396 companies. As at this period the number of companies paying the training levy was 9000. These figures indicate that less than 5 percent of levy payers had benefitted from the Fund by March 2011. As at March 2011 the fund had supported training of up to 10 938 learners/employees.

5.6 Using Network Strategies

The Botswana Training Authority has entered into Memorandum of Understanding with several organizations. These are local and international establishments. They range from national training authorities, government departments, international awards awarding bodies and civil society. BOTA is also a member of the International Vocational Education and Training Association ( IVETA) with its CEO the current President of the organization. BOTA subscribes to many other international and national membership organizations. There are two coordinators for the UNESCO-UNEVOC network. There has been participation on the network through small studies etc. Botswana is also involved in the establishment of a regional qualification framework for Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.

Sources:

1. African Union: Second Decade of Education For Africa (2006-2015), Draft Action Plan June 2006.

2. BOTA, Quality Assurance 41st Committee Meeting Report

3. BEAR Project Report, International Cooperation Bureau, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, South Korea

14 4. Botswana National TVET Monitoring Report: Compiled by SADC/UNESCO Assessment and review of TVET in the SADC Region and development of a regional strategy for the revitalisation of TVET. Botswana, Gaborone

5. Botswana Review, 29th Edition, Gaborone