Introduction
The department core mandate is to coordinate and provide basic education statistics, coordinate and conduct research, monitor and evaluate programmes and projects, and planning. The different units embarked on various projects with the intention to improve the quality of basic education
Monitoring and Evaluation
Review of the Guidance and Counselling Policy and the Pastoral Policy
As part of the Ministry of Basic Education’s commitment to respond to the current needs of learners and the demands of contemporary society the ministry decided to re-examine some of its policy frameworks and practices to ensure their relevance and effectiveness. This includes reviewing the guidelines and strategies for providing learner support through Guidance and Counselling and Pastoral Care. It was also with the realisation that despite the existence of these support systems in schools psycho-social problems, graduate unemployment, escalating crime, poor examinations results, and other issues facing Botswana society continue to rise.
Research Unit
The unit is the process of undertaking a study on “Teacher quality in Botswana”. A brief synopsis of the study is given below, Teacher education involves policies and procedures that are designed to equip prospective teachers with the knowledge, attitudes, behaviours and skills that require to perform their tasks in the classroom, school and wider community. For an education system to prosper there is need for well-trained teachers. It is during the teaching and learning process that these teachers exhibit the knowledge, skills and attitudes they would have acquired during the training process. If well articulated, these would translate into student achievement in not only the academic result but also lifelong prospects.
Education Management Information System
education management in Botswana. The primary objective of this initiative (which commenced in 2002) is to automate core school administration and student management processes which will empower relevant stakeholders with appropriate monitoring, analysis and reporting functionality.
Currently, the EMIS provides limited functionality due to a partial automation of identified school administration and student management. The following three modules (out of the identified seven modules) of the EMIS are in use:
• Student Loan Management System
• Form 4 Selection System
• Grants Application System
Current challenges pertaining to the partial automation of the EMIS include:
• Manual processes
• Manual file storage and retrieval
• Disparate systems
• Inaccurate and inconsistent information
Educational Planning
Planning is critical to an organization’s existence. The Department of Educational Planning and Research Services plays a vital role in the Ministry of Basic Education Planning. In order to be able to execute this well, the department embarked on skills development and six officers were trained on educational planning. The department produces data in the form of estimates and projections which are used in decision making for educational infrastructure development and planning in general.
Regional studies
The Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ).
The SACMEQ project is a major cross-national study on the quality of primary education in much of Sub-Saharan Africa. The project mainly aims at building capacity in the member states’ ministries of education to monitor and evaluate the quality of their primary education. It is coordinated by the SACMEQ Coordinating Centre in partnership with UNESCO/IIEP which is situated in Paris.