Botswana

This short country report, a result of larger Information for Development Program (infoDev) - supported survey of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in education in Africa, provides a general overview of current activities and issues related to ICT use in education in the country. Botswana is a small, dynamic country with visionary leadership particularly in the sector of ICTs in education. Not only does it boast a liberal telecoms policy, its education and national ICT policies are linked to a broader economic vision for the country.

Human development is one of the pillars of Botswana?s Country Partnership Strategy with the World Bank (2009-13). The Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) is in line with Botswana?s ?vision 2016,? which, in terms of human development, envisions the transformation of Botswana to ?an educated and informed nation? and to ?a prosperous, productive and innovative nation? as two key cornerstones of the strategy.

Botswana's economic growth has hinged on its abundant natural resources, particularly diamonds, which generate nearly half of its fiscal revenues. In terms of sustainable growth, this dependency on natural resources poses the biggest challenge for the country. To prepare Botswana for ?life after diamonds,? the government developed a growth paradigm in its ?vision 2016? strategy document (Presidential Task Group 1997), which suggests that the development of ?new economy? skills will play an extremely important role in the country?s future.

Botswana has pursued prudent macroeconomic policies to manage the revenue streams from diamond exports. It is now an upper-middle-income country that outperforms other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa on key indicators of socioeconomic performance including education, health, and social services. The economic structure in Botswana has undergone changes in recent years, but these changes have not yet ended the country's reliance on diamond exports. Until recently, Botswana also had a telecommunications monopoly; other utilities are not always accessible at competitive terms.

Botswana has an official unemployment rate of 17.8 percent. The low labor-intensity of growth is a potential explaining factor for this high level of unemployment. It is thus essential to analyze the role of education and training in the access to employment. This note finds that the role of education has changed under the effect of schooling expansion and persistent unemployment. Labor market institutions appear to have a limited impact on employment and wage levels, while the importance of active labor market programs is growing.