Botswana

Botswana has a population of 1.8 million people with a median age of 19 years. Though it is one of the more successful countries in Africa.  Botswana has made considerable improvements to the education system over the past fifteen years.  The importance of education in Botswana is apparent considering that 40 percent of the population is 14 years old or younger.  Secondary school enrollment has increase almost 30 percent in the past 15 years. 57% of girls and 50% of boys attend secondary school.  Literacy rates for youths have increased from 83.3% in 1990 to 89.3% in 2003.  93% of youth females in Botswana are literate, a figure that is 25% above the regional average.  This is not to say that there is not room for improvement.  One way to improve Botswana, including education is to help the country connect to the internet.  Like most of the world, there have been great strides in connectivity over the past five years.  Since the year 2000, internet usage in Botswana has increased 300%.  Though that figure is impressive, still only 3.2 % of the population has access to the internet.  In order to improve Botswana, especially the lives of school children, this number needs to increase.

World Links in Botswana

World Links began working in Botswana in 2000. The program has been very successful and has expanded rapidly due to the close working partnership between World Links and the Ministry of Education.

Fifteen community junior secondary schools werepart of the program. The schools were spread throughout the country, from the urban centres to remote rural villages. Four major training events have took place during the life of the progect, and 15 school headmasters, 30 teacher coordinators and 100 teachers were trained in the uses of ICTs in education at the school level. Formal computer literacy programs were introduced in half of the schools, with additional work done in the computer labs outside of normal school hours. All schools have Internet access.