Making schools count

Not all about our education system is dark and gloom. Over the years to her credit, Botswana developed sound and comprehensive education policies. There is no doubt that on the policy environment Botswana stands on a solid rock. However, the system is riddled with a conflict between issues of policy and the practice environment, making it difficult to realise the overall aims of the education system. The overall goal is educating for life and how well does our educational practice on the ground support this goal?

Professor Jaap Kuiper has succinctly described the situation as the policy and practice paradox. To the uninitiated, Kuiper carried out a field study on declining academic achievement levels, in which he highlighted the major issues facing formal secondary education in Botswana and his study appears to be what the doctor has prescribed to cure the maladies afflicting the system.

Kuiper acknowledges the huge investments that Botswana has put into the reform agenda. “Botswana has a reasonable good set of research documents related to education.” Further he noted, “most (not all) of Botswana’s education development and improvement activities over the last two decades can be seen as relevant, valid and necessary from a best-practice point of view as given in by global educational thinking.”

This means that on paper the intentions of our education system on shaping and placing a post diamond Botswana on sustainable future are clear. But there remains the question as why the system is not achieving the desired outcomes of raising the standard of academic achievement and supporting the economic transformation agenda.

Here is the challenge. It should be noted having a good policy environment cannot in and of itself deliver the desired outcomes. The policy environment should be accompanied by an appropriate practice (implementing) environment. There is evidence of a clear mismatch between policy aims of our education and what is happening on the ground (educational practices).

“The Kuiper study has also found clear evidence that these positive and appropriate (policy) intentions have resulted in a decrease in the overall quality of education through educational practices that are ineffective, inefficient, or even irrelevant.” As a result of the continuing disharmony between policy and practice, the gap between the desired and the actual educational outcomes continue to widen. Improving learning in our schools will always be a moving target unless and until there is harmony between policy and practice.

According to Kuiper, the characteristic features of policy and practice paradox manifest themselves in the following areas:

The curriculum preaches learning for life. This means the curriculum policy is designed to cater for knowledge and skills acquisition (required by the economy) but teaching on the ground is skewed in favour of content. The BGCSE curriculum requires learners to do many subjects and the desire to complete the syllabus takes precedence over learning for life. The race to cover as much breadth as possible reduces classroom activities and compromises the skills development aspect. As Kuiper put it, “the schools focus on teaching and not learning”. Teaching is generally examination-oriented and therefore, the skills development gets a raw deal.

Use of assessment syllabus instead of teaching syllabus. He observed that the alignment between what the curriculum prescribes and what the assessment measures is not ideal. It appears that there are teachers who base the planning of their learning programmes on the assessment syllabus instead of the teaching syllabus and this explains the current total focus on examinations, which come at the expense of skills development.

The necessary training of those managing and implementing educational changes in the schools is almost entirely absent. Knowledge and understanding of best practice in education is limited and out-dated.

In conclusion, the challenge vexing our education system is that of a paradox between policy and practice environment. Change can only come if harmony between the curriculum and educational practices is achieved.