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TheLanguageSituationinBotswana

LydiaNyati-Ramahobo

Faculty of Education, University of Botswana, Private Bag 0022, Gaborone,Botswana

This monograph provides an overview of the language situation in Botswana.1 Itdescribes the language profile of the country, including the number of languages anddialects spoken, the number of speakers of each language and the various roles eachlanguage plays in society. The paper provides a historical development of language-in-educationpolicies.The objectives of learning, methods of assessmentand languageuse in the media also are examined. The third part of the monograph describeslanguage planning and implementation efforts and the agencies involved in the plan-

ning process and the development of legislation. There is tension between policyformulation and implementation,and an imbalance in social justice.Majority commu-nitiesare treatedas minority communities basedon the language(s) they speak. Whilepressure from the civil society has led government to make progressive policy deci-sions, there is no intrinsic motivation for their implementation. Non-governmentalorganisations are encouraged by these positive policy decisions but their efforts arefrustratedby covertly negative attitudes to change from the leadership.There is a needfor commitment from the leadership to support the preservation of all languagesspoken in Botswana. Currently an assimilationist model permeates the social,economic, political and cultural aspects of life in Botswana.

Introduction

The monograph has elements of a descriptive studyand a casestudy, in that itdescribes the language situation in Botswana. Specifically, it describes thelanguage profile of Botswana, the spread of Setswana, language planning andpolicy activities and both formal and informal efforts to promote and preservethe languages of the country. Data utilised for this work were collected from

January 1989 to September 1990. This data collection process covered language

planning activities since independence, mainly in the period between 1977 to1990, when government was in the process of implementing the recommenda-tions of the first National Commission on Education (NCE 1). The Commissionhad reviewed the education system from independence until 1976. It completedits work in 1977 and its recommendations, contained in the Government WhitePaper No.1 of 1977: National Policy on Education, were endorsed by Parliament inAugust of the same year (Republic of Botswana, 1977).Data for this monographwere further updated between June 1996 and May 1998. This was after thecompletion of the work of the Second NationalCommission on Education(NCE2). This Commissionreviewed theeducation systembetween 1978 and1991.Thesubsequent endorsement of its recommendations, contained in the GovernmentWhite Paper No.2 of 1994: The Revised National Policy on Education (RNPE), cameout in 1994 (Republic of Botswana, 1994). These two documents providelanguage policy directions as part of the overall education policy. The studyalsohas utilised data thatwere collected for the Directory of Language Bodies in Eastern

1466-4208/00/02 0243-58 $16.00/0 2000 L. Nyati-Ramahobo

CURRENT ISSUES IN LANGUAGE PLANNING Vol.1, No.2, 2000

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and Southern Africa coordinated by Kamanakao Association on behalf of theInternational Development Research Center, Nairobi office, from January toSeptember 1999. The study therefore presents the language situation inBotswana as it was up to October 1999.

Formal interviews with policy makers and practitioners in the schoolsprovided the data for the formulation and implementation of the language poli-cies in educationand society. Observations from social domains, social services,the media and the Government Printers Department provided data for theimplementation of the language policy in society and the use of Setswana andEnglish by the government.An analysisofpolicy documents andliteraturein theareas of languageplanning, bilingual education, literacy, religion, themedia andhistorical accounts has provided baseline data on language policy formulationand implementation by both government and non-governmentalorganisations.

The editorsof Current Issues in Language Planning have provided a format for thepresentation of this data to facilitate comparability with other polities.

Background

Botswana is situated in the centre of Southern Africa. It shares borders withZimbabwe, to the east, Namibia to the west and partof the north, South Africa tothe south and Zambiato the north (Map 1). It is landlockedand mostof its goodscome through South African seaports. It straddles the Tropic of Capricorn in the

Southern African plateau (Republic of Botswana, 1997: 8:3). Botswana is about1000m above sea level and the land area is 582,000km2 (222,000sq. miles), aboutthe size of Kenya or France.

Most of Botswana is flat with a few rockyoutcrops and undulations (Republic ofBotswana, 1997: 8:3). In the north-west district is the Okavango Delta, an area ofwetlands measuring 16,000km2 (6106sq. miles) (Tlou, 1985),with a variety ofwild-life and birds. To the west is the Kalahari desert also blessed with wildlife. In thecentral part of the country are the Makgadikgadi saltpans. All of these areas attract

tourists.The climateis often describedas arid orsemi-arid as the country is situatedclose to the high-pressure belt of the southern hemisphere. The minimum rainfallranges between 250 mm in the south-west and 650 mm in the north-east. Mostrainscomebetween December and March.Thereare mainly two seasons: winter(May to July) and summer (August to April). Minimum temperatures range

between 33degrees Celsius in January and 22degrees inJuly (9674F). Maximumtemperatures range between 43 degrees and 32 degrees Celsius (11674 F).

Botswanas economy is largely supported by the mining industry. At inde-pendence, Botswana was considered one of the poorest countries of the world.However, in1967,diamonds were discovered atOrapa, one of the largest knownkimberlites in the world, and later at Letlhakane and Jwaneng. Copper andnickel were also discovered at Selibe-Phikwe. Currently Botswana has threediamond mines, two copper and nickel smelters, a coal mine, soda ash and a saltextractionplant. Mining has transformedthe economytoone of the fastest grow-ing in Africa. Available data indicates that in 1994/95 mineral resources contrib-uted 34% of the grossdomestic product (GDP) and 74. 9%of the countrys exportearnings. It also contributed over 50% of government revenues (Republic of

Botswana, 1997). The beef industry has contributed to the economy as well. For

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instance, in 1994/95, it contributed 3.7% of the GDP, a decline from the record40% before the mining era. Most of the beef is sold to the European Union. Thepopulation of Botswana remains rural and a large part of it depends on agricul-ture for its living, mainly subsistence farming, crop production and cattle rear-ing. Agriculture also contributes about two per cent of formal employment.Other sources of revenue are manufacturing, tourism, transport and construc-

tion. There are efforts to diversify the economy to reduce dependency ondiamonds. These efforts include encouraging foreign investments in areas suchas manufacturing and tourism.

Before the advent of the British to Botswana, the system of governance wasthrough chieftainship. Each tribe hada chiefwith absolute powers (Somolekae&Lekorwe, 1998). Some tribes, which lived in smaller groups, wouldhave a leaderfor each group with absolute powers,whom theywouldrefer to as chief orelder.Chieftainship is hereditary from the male line in most Setswana speaking tribes.

The chiefs eldest son would inherit the position. Inmatrilineal tribes, such as the

The Language Situation in Botswana 245

Map 1 Botswanas location in Southern Africa and other features (Wayeyi areas,mining towns)


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Wayeyi, chieftainship was hereditary from the female line. In other words, thechieftainship would pass to the chiefs sisters eldest son. Chiefs command a lotof respect amongst their people and other tribes. A chief had responsibilities forhis people aswell. He had toprotect his people fromwar,hunger and othernatu-ral disasters. He was to perform ceremonies to launch the hunting and theploughing seasons. He was a medicine man who would perform certain reli-gious practices for his people to protect them from disease and mishap. Hewould also marry people, distribute land, and mediate disputes (Mgadla &Campbell, 1989; Mgadla, 1998). Naturally, a chief would have assistants in theform of sub-chiefs. In most cases, these would be close relatives. He would alsohavehis mophato (a team of his age peers). The chief had to begenerous, sensitiveto the rule of law andhad to live up to theexpectations of his people. The expres-sion kgosi ke kgosi ka batho (a chief is only a chief because of his people) was the

fundamental principle. Without the support of his people, he was nothing, andso it was critical for him not to abuse his powers.

In January 1885, the British enforced an Order in Council that declared theirintention to occupy southern Botswana. In 1890, this order was extended to thenorthern part of the country, and actual colonial rule began. The motive behindthe order was to keep the Germans from occupying the area as had alreadyoccurred in South-West Africa in 1884 (Ramsay, 1998). Through this order, Brit-ain informed Botswanachiefs that the British were coming to protect them fromthe Germans. This meant that the protectorate was actually imposed on thechiefs; it was not requested as has been stated in some historical accounts(Ramsay, 1998).Three of thechiefs were summonedtoEngland for consultationson the acceptance of the protectorate. These were Kgosi (Chief) Khama III of theBamangwato tribe in the Central District,Chief Gaseitsiwe I of the Bangwaketsetribe in the south-western part of the country and Chief Sechele I of the Bakwenatribe. While Khama III embraced the idea, the others accepted it with somedegree of reluctance (Ramsay, 1998). During the period between 1885 and 1965the country was known as the Bechuanaland Protectorate.The British divided it

into nine reserves each led by its chief. While traditionally the chiefs had hadcomplete legislative, executive and judicial powers, the Order in Council of 1890transferred those powers to the British High Commissioner. The chiefs were nolonger recognised as the sovereigns of the soil. Landconcessionswere awardedto the British South African Company, which came in and forced out othercompanies. Queen Victoria was regarded as the sovereign of the soil.

Another Order in Council of 1891 gave more legislative powers to the HighCommissioner to enact laws for the administration of justice. However, he wascautioned to be sensitive to native laws as long as they were not in conflict withthe interests of the British. In 1895, the three chiefs previously mentioned sent apetition to London, resisting the erosion of their powers on their own lands, butthis was ignored. By this time, their role had been reduced to the collection of ahut tax to raise funds for the running of the colony. In 1934 the most direct pieceof legislation, the Native Administration Proclamation, was introduced; itreduced the powers of chiefs and changed Tswana custom and law. It requiredthe chiefs successor to be appointed by the whole tribe and to be recognised bythe High Commissioner (Somolekae & Lekorwe, 1998). This eroded the heredi-

tary aspect of chieftainship and subjected the appointment of the chief to the



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approval of the High Commissioner. It enabled the British to select chiefs whowere sympathetic to their interests and not necessarily to those of their people.Consequently, the High Commissioner could hire and fire chiefs. The NativeTribunal Proclamation No. 75 of 1934 further eroded the legislative and judicialpowers of chiefs. Chiefs responsibility to hear cases of rape, murder and homi-cide was removed. These powers were maintained after independence and theessence of all these pieces of legislation are still alive within the current regula-tions. Chiefs and sub-chiefs are employees of the Ministry of Local Governmentwhich has the power to dismiss them.

The constitution of Botswana provides every citizen with fundamental rightsand freedoms. It is based on the four national principles of democracy, unity,development, and self-reliance. Elections are held every five years. It provides

for the legislative, executive and judicial structure (Figure 1). The legislative


Permanent Secretaryto the President

Attorney GeneralsChamber

Office of thePresident

Administrator ofJustice

Clerk of NationalAssembly

Cabinet

The Executive The JudiciaryThe Legislature

NationalAssembly

H.E. ThePresident

Court ofAppeal

High Court

MagistratesCourts

THECONSTITUTION

H.E.The President

VPHouse of

Chiefs

M i n i s t r i e s

Figure 1 Top central government in Botswana


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structure consists of the national assembly, composed of 40 members of Parlia-ment, one from each constituency. In additionto elected members of Parliament,four are especially elected by Parliament to provide for special skills and exper-tisecritical to theproceedingsof Parliament.This wasthesituationin Parliamentafter the October 1999 elections. The number of women increased from two toeight, four ofwhom are ministers, two are assistantministersandtwo were espe-cially elected.

The legislative branch also contains the House of Chiefs. Currently there are15 members of the House. Eight of them are Paramount Chiefs of the eightSetswana speaking tribes (see Table 1 in Note 1), meaning that they are chiefs by

birth. Four are elected sub-chiefs from areas where languages other than


Map 2 Botswana tribal distribution by district (Source: Nyati-Ramahobo, 1999a: 83)


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Setswana are spoken that do not fall under any of the eight Paramount Chiefs;these include the North-east, Kgalagadi, Gantsi and Chobe districts (Map 2).Those tribes in the North-west, including the Hambukushu, Herero, Subia,Wayeyi, Baciriku (Baqcereku), and Basarwa are represented and ruled by theBatawana and are regarded as such (Map 2). The House elects three additionalmembers by special election. Tribes, whose members do not speak Setswana asmother tongue, are not allowed to be represented by their Paramount Chiefs.They have to be represented by someone who speaks Setswana as a firstlanguage. This is an attempt to assimilate everyone into the Setswana languageand culture.

The House ofChiefs ishighly symbolic, as its role is toexpress the totalcultureof the country and to influence policy from a cultural point of view. The currentcomposition of the House has been challenged since independence as it denies

other ethnic groups the opportunity to contribute to the decision-makingprocess. Furthermore, it violates the democraticprinciple of representation. Thecontinued impositionof chiefs and sub-chiefs from one tribe on anotherhas beena matter of contentionsince independence. Insome areasof the country, even forsome of the eight so-called major tribes, tribe members are ruled by others. Thishas provoked some resistance; for example, the Bakgatla living in the Bakwenaareaareresisting the Bakwena ruleand the Barolong in the Bangwaketsi areaarealso resistingBangwaketsirule. Many observershavecalled foranincrease in thenumbers in the House of Chiefs to make it more inclusive (Molutsi, 1998a).

The issue of chieftainship has also been highly politicised. Since most peoplein the country still hold their chiefs in respect, they tend to vote for the party towhich their chief is sympathetic.Aschiefs aregovernment employees, they natu-rally pay allegiance to the government. This is one of the factors that has ledBotswana to be described as a one party state (Molutsi, 1994). Under thesecircumstances, there is little prospect for other parties to gain widespreadsupport.As long as people respect their chiefs as the custodiansof their cultures,and as long as the ruling party ensures the loyalty of all civil servants, the status

quo is likely to remain (Molutsi, 1998b). Chiefs who have not showed sympathyfor the ruling party have been intimidated. For instance, the paramount chief ofthe Bangwaketsi, Chief Seepapitso IV, has been a supporter of the oppositionBotswana National Front (BNF), and that area supports the BNF. Havingsupported the opposition for a long time, the Minister for Local Governmentsuspended him in 1994 (Somolekae & Lekorwe, 1998). It was only after a court

battle that he was returned to a position of power.As chieftainship is related to ethnicity and language, it is against the above

background that government continues to promote an assimilationist policy. Ifeveryone were Tswana speaking, then everybody would be loyal to the rulingparty, as long as it is led by a Mongwato (Table 1, see Note 1). After the death ofSeretse Khama, the first president of Botswana, who was the chief of theBamangwato tribe, President Masire who is a Mongwaketsi had to appease theBamangwatoby appointing Seretses cousin, Lenyeletsi Seretse to theVice-Presi-dency. Equally, in 1999 President Mogae had to appease the Bamangwato byappointing Seretse Khamas son, Ian Khama to the Vice-Presidency. Ian Khamawas also expected to use his chieftainship to the Bamangwato throne and his

fathers charisma to win the elections for the ruling party, which had lost face in



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the 1994 general elections. Issues of ethnicity, language and chieftainship willcontinue to dominate the political debate in the country. The modernistassimilationist model enshrined within Sections 77 to 79 of the constitution, theChieftainship Act and the Tribal Land Territories Act fosters their continuedprominence.

The legislative wing of government is therefore made up of the NationalAssembly and the House of Chiefs (Figure 1). There is also the Speaker of theNational Assembly who is elected by the assembly. The AttorneyGeneral is alsoselected from the National Assembly to advise Parliament on legal matters.

The second wing of the Government is the Executive. It ismade up ofthe Pres-identandhis cabinetministersandthePermanentSecretary to thePresident whois in charge of the civil service. Finally, there is the Judiciary, which includes theCourtofAppeal, the HighCourt, the MagistrateCourts and the Administratorof

Justice (Figure 1).

PartI:TheLanguageProfileofBotswana

TheoreticalFramework

Skutnabb-Kangas & Phillipson (1989)describe languagerights asexistingonacontinuum from assimilationto maintenance.On this continuum, there are lawsand regulations, which may prohibit, tolerate, prescribe non-discrimination,permit or promote the use of minority languages, eitherovertlyor covertly. Theygive the United States as an example of a covert assimilation-prohibition situa-tion based on Senator Huddlestons draft English language amendment whichreads The English language shall be the official language of the United States(Skutnabb-Kangas, 1990: 27). This proposed legislation was meant to assimilateall other groups to English and prohibit them from using their own languages.

Other languages are not mentioned and that means that they are indirectly orcovertly prohibited.2

An assimilation-tolerancemodel exists when the lawprescribes one languagebut provides room for other languages without any commitment to them. Anexample of this model is Zimbabwe where minority languages such as Karangaare used on the radio without any commitment to their development for use inother social domains. An example of a maintenance-permission continuum onthe other hand, is South Africa. The Freedom Charter of 1955, also upheld in thecurrent legislation,stated that Allpeople shallhave equal rights touse their ownlanguages, and to develop their own folk culture and customs. The intention istomaintainasmany languagesaspossible,hencepermitting theirdevelopment.

In the discussion in Part III of this monograph, I note that the constitution ofBotswana is silent on language policy. However, Sections 61(d) and 79(c) of theconstitution state that the ability to speak and read English are requirements foronetobeamemberofthe HouseofChiefs orthe NationalAssembly.Thisindicatesthat English is the only language that is permitted for use in Parliament and theHouse of Chiefs. The constitution therefore covertly prohibits the use of other

languages. In 1998, Setswana was permitted to be used in Parliament; this was a



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move from prohibition to tolerance for Setswana on the assimilation continuum.However, the use of other languages is still prohibited. The Botswana case, there-fore, can best be described as assimilation prohibition, in which speakers of otherlanguages are prohibited from using their languages while having to assimilate toSetswana and English. Practice over the past 33 years further indicates that onlySetswanaandEnglisharepermittedforuseinsocialdomainsincludingeducation.

Le Roux (1997) has described three types of assimilation. The first he callsassimilation, a one-way process in which minority groups give up theirlanguages, cultures and traditions and assume those of the dominant group. Hecalls this model the ice-cream plus salt theory. The second is, amalgamation,alsocalled the melting pot, another typeof assimilationinwhich minorityand major-ity cultures mix to form a new and unique culture, with characteristics distinctfrom the original cultures. Finally, he describes structural assimilation or the

blender approach inwhich there is total rejection ofany kind ofgroupingon thebasis of religion, language, ethnicity and so on. This is also called the opencommunity ideology. Under this approach, groups have no rights and individ-ual rights are regarded as the core of social order. Proponents of this approach

believe that group rights restrict individual rights to some extent, and theyregard assimilation and amalgamation as anti-pluralistic. As this monographdemonstrates,the Botswana government hasadopted the assimilationapproachin which speakers of languages other than Setswana must assimilate into theculture of Setswana speaking groups.

Ruiz (1984) proposed three orientations towards language planning. Theseare: language as a problem, a resource or a right. He believes that basic orienta-tions toward language and its role in society influence the nature of languageplanning efforts in any particular context (Ruiz, 1984: 15). He defines orienta-tions as a complex of dispositions toward language and its role which arerelated to language attitudes in that they constitutethe frameworkin which atti-tudes are formed (Ruiz, 1984: 16). Orientations are largely at the subconsciouslevel but could be inferred from existing policies and practices. As Table 2 indi-

cates, how language planners view language determines the strategies theyemploy to address language problems.

When language planners view languagediversity as a problem, theyadoptthe assimilationmodel. In status planning their goal would be to eradicateminority languages and corpus planning activities would be characterised

by the development of the national language only and neglect of minoritylanguages. Under the influence of this orientation, acquisition planningactivities would involve teaching and developing materials in the national

language only.When planners orpolicy makersview languageasa right, their status plan-

ning activities would include the recognition of minority languages andgive overt permission tospeakers of those languages touse them. Incorpusplanning, efforts would be made to develop and standardise minoritylanguages to facilitate acquisition planning. Children speaking minoritylanguages would be allowed to learn in their mother tongue.

When linguistic diversity is viewed as a resource, policy statements in

statusplanning would be geared towards the development, preservation



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and use of as many languages as possible. More languages would begiven functions within the life of the nation, such as for use in churches,voting, the media and many other social domains, as is the case in SouthAfrica. Corpus planners would then develop written forms of as manylanguages as possible. Acquisition planning process would produceteaching materials to facilitate learning of these various languages.

Table 2 indicates the relationshipbetween languageplanning orientations, goals

and types of planning.Nyati-Ramahobo (1999a) maintains that language planning in Botswana hasbeen influenced by theorientationof languagediversitybeing viewedas problem,in which minority languages, cultures and identities must be eradicated. All chil-dren must learn Setswana and use it as medium of instruction. They must assimi-late to the Setswana language andculture. Democracydemands that group rights

be granted and,consequently, groups suchthe youth, womenandthe disabled aresupported.Similarlyminoritygrouprightshavetobe toleratedandgroups should

be allowed to form registered organisationsalong ethnic and linguistic lines. Such

rights would create tensions between an assimilationist model and democracy.One of the reasons why ethnic identities have not disappeared is that within ademocracy people can no longer be imprisoned for developing and using theirlanguages. This issue is discussed further in the role of non-governmentalorgani-sations in language maintenance in Part Four of this monograph.

Majorandminorlanguages

English is the official language of Botswana. It permeates the social, economic

and cultural lives ofall educatedBatswanaandthe government prefers the use of


Table 2 Language planning types, orientations and goals (Nyati-Ramahobo,1998b: 55)

Orientations

Problem Right Resource

Goals: Assimilation Linguisticaffirmation Linguisticpluralism

Types

Status planning(Languagefunctions)

Minorityeradication

Recognise minority Preserve anddevelop as manylanguages aspossible

Corpus planning(Language

structure)

Standardisation ofthe national

language only andneglect of minoritylanguage

Graphisation andstandardisation of

minority languages

Extension ofminority languages

lexically andsociolinguistically

Acquisitionplanning(Languagelearning)

Curriculumdevelopment andteaching of thenational languageonly; learning inminority languages

Curriculumdevelopment andteaching andlearning inminority languages

Human resourcedevelopment,materialproduction, literacyskills


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English to any other language in the country. Setswana is the main language ofBotswana. Some scholars estimate that it is spoken by about 80% of the popula-tion as a first language (Obondo-Okoyo & Sabone, 1986, also refer to Map 1).Others maintain that, taken individually, most Tswana speaking tribes areminorities in Botswana, while collectively they may or may not form a majorityover non-Tswana tribes taken together (Mpho, 1987). For instance, Parsons(1985: 27) maintains that the concept of

Tswanadomthat is both philosophical and territorial has led many observ-ers to assumethat Botswanais a mono-ethnic state . . . [but] only in so far asthe Tswana minority has successfully imposed its culture on the majoritypopulation of the extreme diverse origins[and even then] ethnic identi-ties have not disappeared.

However, because of this imposition, speakers of the eight dialects, which makeupthe Setswana language, areregarded as the majoritytribes in the country.TheChieftainship Act, Cap.41: 01 (Republic of Botswana, 1965) states that tribemeans, the Bamangwato Tribe, the Batawana Tribe, the Bakgatla Tribe, theBakwena Tribe, the Bangwaketse Tribe, the Bamalete Tribe, the Barolong Tribeand the Batlokwa Tribe (41:3) (refer to Table 1, Category one). The Tribal Terri-tories Act (Cap.32: 03 (Republic of Botswana, 1965) also defines tribal territorywith respect to these tribes meaning that only those tribes are sovereigns of theland. Mostof these tribes originated from South Africa during the Difaqane warsin the 1820sand 1830s(Tlou & Campbell, 1984:101;Ncqocqo,1979;Ramsay etal.,1996: 61). The Bakwena, Bangwato and Bangwaketsi are the descendants ofMalope (Tlou, 1998), which in the 1800s became separate tribes by the Difaqanewars. Currently, the Bangwaketsi live in the south-western part of Botswanawhile the Bangwato (or the Bamangwato) live in the central and the Bakwena inthe southern part (Map 2). About 10% of the population now speak Setswana as asecond language (Obondo-Okoyo & Sabone, 1986).

Other tribes speak languages that are regarded as sub-dialects of Setswana.

However, the speakers regard themselves as autonomous tribes. These are theBabirwa, Batswapong, Bahurutshe, Bakhurutshe and Bapedi. Most of thesetribes also originated from South Africa and live on the eastern border ofBotswana with South Africa. By 1800, the Bapedi had settled throughout theCentral District, and in1913 the Bakhurutshe moved to the interiorof the CentralDistrict (Ramsay et al., 1996: 15). The Bahurutshe live in the Kweneng Districtcloser to the Southern border of the two countries (Table 1, Category 2 and 3).Other language groups include Bakalaka, Basarwa, Wayeyi, Hambukushu,Baherero, Basubiya, Baciriku, Bakgalagadi, Bakgothu, Bashaga and Banabjwa(Map 2, alsoTable 1,Category 3). It is estimatedthat these groups makeup about15 to 20% of the population (Obondo-Okoyo & Sabone, 1986; Janson & Tsonope,1991: 867). They speak different languages that are neither related to Setswananor mutually intelligible. The Basarwa group is made up of about seventeen Sanethnic groups who speak different languages (Appendix 1).

All the tribes described in the previous paragraph are regarded as minoritytribes. The terms minority and majority have, by definition, no numerical signifi-cance inBotswana.Whatdetermineswhether a tribe ismajororminor iswhether

it belongs toone of the eight Setswana tribes and speak one of the eight Setswana



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dialects. For instance, the Bakalaka are believed to be the largest tribe in theCentral District, and yet they are regarded asa minority tribe because they speakIkalanga, which is not related to Setswana. The Wayeyi constitute about 40% ofthe population of the Ngamiland district (Anderson & Janson, 1997; also refer toKamanakao web-site in the reference section). By contrast, the Batawana consti-tute one per cent of the population and yet the formerare regarded as a minoritytribe and the latter as a majority tribe. The Batawana rule over the Wayeyi, andthe Batawana Paramount Chief represents the Wayeyi in the House of Chiefs.Thegovernment does notrecognise the WayeyiParamountChief andthis matteris presently before the High Court. The Balete and Batlokwa have small popula-tions occupying one village, and yet they are regarded as majority tribes and arerepresented by their Paramount Chiefs in the House of Chiefs.

The general pattern is that Setswana speaking groups rule over all the

non-Setswana tribes. The village capital of the major tribe is the capital of all theother tribes nearest to it. It is the place where government services are providedirrespective of the distance to be travelled. This is the way in which linguisticimperialism has penetrated the social and economic lives of those tribes whichdonot speakSetswana asa first language. Inallnationalevents, the majorcultureportrayed is that of the eight major tribes. Minority languages and cultures aresuppressed and their use in public domains is discouraged. These policies aremeant to foster national unity and a national cultural identity. They are congru-ent with an assimilationist model and are underpinned by an orientation thatviews linguisticandculturaldiversityasa problem anda threattonationalunity.

Languageofreligion

Amanze (1998: 1) maintains that traditional religion is a living faith amongBatswanatoday.This is so because they have revived and continued to observea great number of their religious beliefs and practices some of which wereattacked by the early missionaries as evil and detrimental to the spiritual life ofBatswana. He further observes that people in Africa are born, live and die in

their traditional religions (1998: 2). A recent newspaper report has indicatedmost Batswana, including the highly educated, still rely on traditional medi-cine (The Voice, Friday, 21 May 1998). Traditional medicine is closely related totraditional religion. It is this religion that protects the people from witchcraft,sorcery, drought, uncertainty, disease, misfortune and other physical, spiri-tual, economic and social phenomena (Amanze, 1998: 3).

Like most Africans, Batswana believe in one supreme being (Modimo inSetswana,Urezha inShiyeyi (Tlou,1985),orNyambe in Thimbukushu or Nzimu inIkalanga. For all ethnic groups in Botswana this one God is always described inanthropomorphic terms. He can see, hear, get angry, forgive, answer and so on.This is reflected in given names of people such as Oarabile (He has answered).They also believe inancestral spirits (Badimo) in Setswana,or Wazumu in Shiyeyi.The dead are considered tocontinuetoexist in a spiritual form, and they serve asthe mediator between the living and God. The spirits can also neglect or punishthe living; they can forgive, protect and come closer to them in times of need.When they are angry they may bring disease, misfortune, or death. Certain prac-tices need tobefollowed tomakethemhappy. Thesepractices havestoodthe test

of time and people in towns go to villages on weekends to perform such rites.



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This phenomenon has maintained a strong bond between the working class intownsand their traditionalvillages. While somepractices such as initiation cere-monies have ceased, those practices related to health and fortune continuedespite attempts by the missionaries to abolish them. Some of the practicesinclude birth rites to protect the child from disease and bad spirits and marriagerites to ensure that the couples do not divorce.

The priesthood in the African religion includes diviners, medicine men andrainmakers. Chiefs also hold religious powers. During colonial rule, the Britishovertly banned some religious practices. They felt that practices such as bogwera(male initiation) took a lot of the chiefs time from their work for the colony. Forinstance, in 1931 Kgosi Sebele II of the Bakwena tribe, a traditionalist, wanted tofollow the bogwera which one was required in order to be a chief or a respectedmale adult (Ramsay, 1987).The British collaborated with his relatives who were

against his policy of promoting commoners to chieftainship duties. They usedtheir complaints tomakeSebele IIa political prisoner.The real reason wasthatheinsisted on practising bogwera. Currently, only the Kgosi Linchwe II Kgafela oftheBakgatla still practises bogwera. As chiefs are now elected and not necessarily

born into ruling positions, their religious powers have been reduced. They actonly as clients to medicinemen who strengthen them andprotect them from evilandopposition. In 1998 the Wayeyi informed Kgosi Tawana that they would liketo have their own chief. He said in a kgotla3 meeting I am not afraid that you willtake my chair [meaning chieftainship seat] because I have put some powerfulcharms under it and no one can take it away (Davies, 1998). It was not KgosiTawana but the medicine men who provided the charms, and that was under-stood by the Wayeyi. Chiefs no longer have powers to bring rain and providegood harvest for their people. They have lost their religious powers.

Missionaries from the London Missionary Society (LMS) came to Bechuana-land (Botswana) in the first half of the 18th century to spread Christianity. Themissionaries first task was to convert each of the Paramount Chiefs of the eightmajor tribes to Christianity. This practice resulted in the LMS playing a major

role inthe development ofSetswanabothinBotswana and inSouth Africa. Itwasthe first language south of Ethiopia to have a translation of the Bible, a task thatwas completed by the 1850s (Parsons, 1998). The LMS built three senior second-ary schools in Botswana that still operate today: Moeding and Moeng Collegesand Maun Secondary School. They also built hospitals, which continue toprovide medical care. During this period the use of Setswana in religion wasobvious, as morning prayers in schools and hospitals were conducted inSetswana. When deacons and other church leaders visited hospitals to pray forthesick, theservices were conducted in Setswana. After independence, morningprayers in schools began to be conducted in English. Christianity has thereforeplayed a major role in the promotion of Setswana and English in the church andin the exclusion of other languages in accordancewith theassimilationistmodel.Chiefs were often tutored by missionaries or local priests who were trained byand worked for missionaries. For instance, Kgosi Seepapitso II of the Bang-waketsiwas tutoredas a child byMoruti (Preacher) MothowagaeMotlogelwa ofthe LMS and later went to Lovedale Institute, a missionary school in SouthAfrica. Religion therefore played a significant role, not only in building schools

but also in schooling the chiefs and teaching them English. This was helpful in



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maintaining traditional ways, as some dikgosi (chiefs) like Seepapitso used their

education to resist some of the changes the British wanted to implement. LikeSebele, he was a traditionalistwho believed in Christianity without abandoningTswana law and custom (Ramsay, 1987). He spoke English very well and conse-quently was able to put his point of view to the British. As he himself was fluentin English, he did not oppose its use in the church along with translations intoSetswana.

While the majority of the people in Botswana believe in their ancestral sprits,Christianity is the official religion in thecountry. About 176Christiandenomina-tionsarerepresented in Botswana (Amanze,1994).Other religions such asBahai,Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism are also present (Table 3).

Amongst the Christian churches there are three types (Amanze, 1998: ix): themission churches (30.5%), which came because of missionary work in Africa, thePentecostal churches (6.58%) and independent churches (64.93%), mainly ofAfrican or specifically Tswana origin (Sic, percentages add to more than 100% inthe original). The latter are mostly a blend of Western and African philosophiesof religion. The independent churches have upheld the African religions andtraditions. Within the mission churches, the largest is the Roman Catholic

Church with 47,000 members followed by the Lutheran church with 24,000members (Amanze, 1994).A denominational classificationof Christian churchesin Botswana includes: Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Anglican,Congregational, Methodist, Baptist, Seventh Day Adventist, Pentecostal andIndependent churches (Amanze, 1999). Their approaches to religion includethe apostolic, the prophetic, the evangelical and the spiritual. While traditionalreligious acts such as drinking, concubinage, pre-marital sex, polygamy, andsmoking were not banned, most churches, including independent churches,discourage such practices, of course with varying degrees of success. The meth-ods of worship, more especially in independent churches, have blended bothWestern and African styles. Dress is formal as it is in the West but the proceed-ings include African styles such as hand clapping, drumming, dancing and theuse of African music.

Religion has increased the use of Setswanaand English. A study conducted byNyati-Ramahobo (1991) concluded that most churches use English and Sets-wana, with the former playing a major role in the proceedings of the church. Forinstance, in the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA), the

main message of the sermon is delivered in English with translations into


Table 3 Religions and their membership

Religion Membership %

Christians 392, 035 30.00

Bahai 5,000 0.38

Muslims 3,848 0.23

Hindus 2,000 0.15

Buddhists 150 0.01

Sikhs 144 0.01

Source: Amanze (1988: x)


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Setswana. Batswana ministers in urban areas use English to deliver theirmessages. In making announcements, the secretary may use his/her discretionas to which announcements are to be in both Setswana and English and whichones are to be monolingual in Setswana. The church choir sings hymns both inSetswana and English, while the congregation sings hymns in Setswana. TheScripture maybe read inSetswana orEnglish,but not necessarily the sametext in

both languages. The increase in the use ofEnglish in urban churches is a result ofan increase in the number of younger church leaders and of a greater participa-tion of younger parishioners in church activities. However, Setswana is domi-nant in rural churches.

In the spirit of the assimilationistmodel inwhich languagediversity isviewedas a threat to peace, minority languages are rarely used in church. However, inthe 1980s the Lutheran Bible Translators based at Aurora, Illinois and the

BotswanaChristian Council have played a significant role in the development ofminority languages such as Ikalanga as discussed below. The translation of theNew Testament into Hambukushu and Ikalanga has led to the informal use ofthese languages in some churches in the north-east and north-west of the coun-try. The development of the Shiyeyi orthography has resulted in the translationof some hymns into Shiyeyi. These hymns are sung at some funeral services.Increasingly religion is playing a crucial role in the development of minoritylanguages and their gradual introduction into rural churches which otherwiseuse Setswana in their proceedings. Membership of other religions is essentiallycomposedof foreigners whousemainlyEnglish except for Islam andHinduism,which use Arabic or Indian languages.

Socio-linguisticComplexityoftheCountry

Since independence, the national population and housing census has notincluded data on the ethnic and/or linguistic composition of the country. Sincelinguistic diversity is regarded as a problem, such data might promote ethnic

awareness and disrupt the assimilation process. Implied in this practice is thepromotion of national identity over ethnic identity. Another reason is that, withthedefinition of majority andminoritybeing non-numerically determined, suchdata would quickly bring to the attention of the people the fact that what thegovernment regards as major ethnic groups are actually a numerical minority.This absence of ethnic and/or linguistic informationin the census has hamperedeasy access to empirical and scientific data that would provide an accuratedescription of the socio-linguistic complexity of the country. Because of thisproblem, scholarswho have worked on the various languages and ethnicgroups

of Botswana have based their information on estimates. Table 4 presents censusdata from pre-independence in one district, Ngamiland (Map 2). The 1936 and1946 censuses were the last to include ethnicity (Tlou, 1985, from Shapera, 1959).These figures can only serve as a rough guide as these ethnic groups are alsorepresented inother parts of the country,while other ethnicgroupsare not repre-sented in this district.Table 4 indicates that the Wayeyi were the most numerousgroup in both periods, and yet by government definition they are considered aminority tribe.

Tlou (1985) cautionsagainst the use of census figures during thatperiod since



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only major villages were included. The census for 1946 may have been doneduring the ploughing seasonwhen mostpeople were awayin the fields. Anotherpossible explanation for the decrease between 1936 and 1946 was that the countwas conducted at the height of the conflict between the Bayei (Wayeyi) andBatawana, just before the 1948 court case. During that period most minoritygroups were intimidated and were forced to identify themselves as theBatawana.Thisseems tomake sense in that the Batawanapopulationwasseen tohave increased but others (like BaYei, Hambukushu and BaKgalagadi) had

decreased.Mpho (1987) presents figures for the 1946 census in the Central District (see

Table 5). The Kalanga were the most numerous in this reserve, and yet at inde-pendence they were declared a minority and their language was banned fromuse inschool since itwasnot Setswana,and recognising itwould not promotetheconcept of Tswanadom.

Table 6 provides post-independence figures along with the most recent esti-mates by scholars. The compilation in Batibo et al. (1997) has relied on Andersonand Jansons estimates. The figures for Wayeyi could be higher due to denial ofShiyeyi identity by many Wayeyi at that time. In fact Anderson & Janson (1997:73) estimate that the Wayeyi could be between 28,000 and 37,000. While thedenial syndrome is not exclusive to the Wayeyi, the Batawana more extensivelysubjected themtoslaverythanany other tribe.Mostof them havebecomeassimi-lated and cannot speak Shiyeyi, while others speak it but do not admit that theydo due to the low status of the language through its association with slavery.However, things may have changed slightlysince 1995,after the formationof theKamanakao Association (see Part IV). The figures for the BaHerero could be

much lower. They immigrated to Botswana in 1904/05 (Anderson & Janson,


Table 4 Population in Ngamiland by ethnic group in 1936 and 1946

Bantu 1936 (census) 1946 (census)

BaGcereku 1,513

BaHerero 2,933 5,798

BaKalaka 728

BaKgalagadi 2,270 1,918

BaRotsi 744

BaSarwa 3,067 3,704

BaSotho 42

BaSubiya 486

BaTawana 7072 8,124

Bayei/Wayeyi/Bayeyi 16,496 13,261Hambukushu 5,919 5,286

Matebele 103

Others 4,402

Total 42,158 41,707

Source: Tlou (1985: 9)


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1997) but continued to consider themselves to be Namibians. After Namibiasindependence in 1996,some moved back, while others remained in variouspartsof Botswana.The 1991populationcensus indicated that 54%of the populationof

Botswana live in the rural areas (Central Statistics Office, 1995:5). Due to the lack


Table 5 Population of the Bamangwato Reserve (now Central District, see Map 1)

Group Population

Bakalaka 22,777

spalphaBamangwato 20,159

Batswapong 11,237

Babirwa 9,636

San 9,567

Bakhurutshe 5,441

Bakgalagadi 3,963

Batalaote 3,538

Bakaa 3,055

Bapedi 2,572Baphaleng 2,409

OvaHerero 1,013

Balozi 1,006

Bakwena 892

Baseleka 889

Banajwa 844

Bayei/Wayeyi/Bayeyi 724

Table 6 Estimated number of speakers

Ethnic Group Population & per cent of population

Batibo et al. (1997) Anderson & Janson (1997)

BaHerero 31,000 (1.7) 31,000 (2.2)

BaKalaka 150,000 (11) 150,000 (11)

BaKgalagadi 15,000 (1.4) 10,000+ (?)

BaSarwa(Khoisan)

39,800 (2.8) 40,000 (4)

BaSubiya 7,000 (0.5) 7,000 (0.5)

BaYei/Wayeyi/Bayeyi 20,000 (1.4) 37,000 (4)

Hambukushu 8,000 (0.6) 6,000+

Batswana* 1,100,000 (79) 1,100,000+ (80)

Others 20,000 (1.4)

Totals 1,390,800 1,381,000

*Batswana refers to the eight dialects spoken by the eight so-called major tribes. Therehave been no data on the numbers for each of these tribes for the past 63 years.


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of reliable data, it is difficult to estimate the percentages of each ethnic groupliving in rural or urban areas.

The numbers in Table 6 should be treated with great caution; they are esti-mates based on the 1936 and 1946 census figures for the Ngamiland and CentralDistricts only. The discrepancy in the totals confirms that these are only esti-mates. It is not possible to use figures that are 63 years old to work out currentfigures, especially in a situation in which language shift has been accelerated bydeliberate policies. Smieja andMathangwane (1999)have alsodiscussed therateof languageshift;Sommer and Vossen (1995)suggest thatestimates suchas thesemay not be reliable. Language shift suggests a shift in self-perception and iden-tity. The 1991 census did not include ethnic or linguistic information. Secondly,Batibo and his colleagues relied heavily on Anderson and Jansons figures.Hence, they do not provide an alternative level of analysis.

PartII:LanguageSpread

Development ofLanguage-in-education Policies

Educationprovisionafterindependence

During the Colonial period, education was provided by only four missionschools. Few people had access to these schools and at independence there wasan acute shortage of manpower to lead the country. The education sector hasexperienced a tremendous amount of expansion during the past 33 years, interms ofnumber of students, schoolsand teachers. In1974,eightyearsafter inde-pendence, the first President, Sir Seretse Khama, appointed a commission toassess the entire education systemand make recommendations for implementa-tion. The National Commission on Education (NCE 1), chaired by Professor

Torsen Husen, then Director of the Institutefor InternationalEducationat Stock-holm, started its work in 1975 and brought it to completion in 1977. One of themajor findings of this exercise was that the education sector was expanding interms of student enrolment (Table 7). However, a number of problems wereidentified including lowachievement rates.TheCommissionstatedthat schoolsare not even achieving their narrow academic objectives well (NCE 1977a: 18).

The system was based on European models and has not been changed toaccommodate local needs in terms of curriculum content. Assessment was basi-cally used for selection into the next level, and ultimately preparing learners forwhite-collar jobs. The rapid expansion in enrolment at the primary level (74%)and at secondary school (a six-fold increase between 1966 and 1976), imposed agreater demand for increases in teacher training, buildings, equipment andadministrativelevels.Thus, while more children were coming into the educationsystem, not enough was happening to provide for their education. There was ashortageof manpower in the Ministry of Education. Consequently, schools werenot inspected on a regular basis. There was no curriculum review being carriedout and goals and policies meant to improve the system were not being imple-

mented. The other problem identified was that the Ministry of Education had



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focused on secondary and higher education in terms of quality issues whileprimary education was neglected; for instance, most teachers at the primaryschool level were not trained. They were also disparities between urban andrural areas in terms of the provision of education. For instance, in rural areas

most children had to walk long distances to get to a school, and sometimes theyhadto move to a different village togo to school.There werealsomore untrainedteachers in rural schools and poorer facilities. Finally, children in rural areasspeak non-school languages and have problems comprehending instruction inthe national language.

The Commission made recommendations to address some of the most press-ing issues facing the education system at that time. Amongst these were thefollowing.

(1) The need to give priority to primary education as the foundation for otherlevels of education; specifically to attend to both quantitative and qualita-tive issues at this level eg, the curriculum should ensure that each childacquires basic literacy and numeracy skills.

(2) An increase in opportunity to enter junior secondary education in severalways was recommended, including part-time study, lifting age restrictionto entrance, expansion of facilities, and the development of teacher trainingcolleges and more schools. It also recommended the development of acoherent system between technical and vocational education.

(3) The examination marks for Setswana should be included in the PrimarySchool Leaving Examinations (PSLE) mark, and a compensatory pro-gramme should be developed for children who speak other languages.

(4) The education system should foster the four nationalprinciples of develop-ment: self-reliance, unity, and democracy which culminate in the philoso-phy of Kagisano (social justice). The report this Commission produced wascalled Education for Kagisano, and the accepted recommendations arecontained in Government White Paper No.1, the National Policy on Educa-

tion, passed by Parliament in August, 1977.


Table 7 School enrolment: 19661976

Year Primary Secondary University

1966 71,546 1531 0

1967 71,577 1854 0

1968 78,963 2299 0

1969 82,214 3099 0

1970 83,002 3905 0

1971 78,442 4740 42

1972 81,662 5564 70

1973 95,511 6152 132

1974 103,711 7055 201

1975 116,293 8434 2891976 125,588 9558 465

Source: National Commission on Education (1977: 14)


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(5) The Commission recommended a change in the education structure from7:3:3:4to 7:2:3.4(primary, juniorsecondary,seniorsecondaryanduniversity).

(6) The Commission recommended the Establishment of the Department ofCurriculum Development and Evaluation.(7) The Commission also made recommendations on the use of Setswana as

medium of instruction and other language related issues. These will bediscussedindetail inthefollowingsectiononlanguage-in-education policies.

From 1977 to 1992, the Ministry of Education (Figure 2) tried to implement therecommendations of the first National Commission on Education and delivereducation for social justice. In 1992, the second President, Sir Ketumile Masire,

appointed the second National Commission on Education (NCE 2), to reassessthe entire system and indicate its strengths and weaknesses with a view to forg-ing a way forward into the next millennium. This thrustdeveloped in light of thefact that there had been many societal, economic, political and cultural changessince 1977. Mr Ponatshego H. Kedikilwe, then Minister of Presidential Affairsand Public Administration, chaired this Commission. He was the Minister ofEducation, and many people thought that he had the opportunity to implementhis own recommendations. However, he later resigned his cabinet post. TheCommissionstarted its work in April 1992 and completed it in 1994. It identifieskey areas where improvements had taken place since the last Commission andareas that needed attention within the system. The following improvementswere reported to have taken place:

enrolments had continued to expand (Table 8); the Department of Curriculum Development and Evaluation had been

established, and the curriculum was generally sensitive to the philosophyof Kagisano;

there were great improvements in the curriculum and new teaching meth-ods and approaches had been put in place to facilitate learning;universal access to primary education had been achieved and there was

greater access to junior secondary education (Figure 3);

the Department of Primary Education had been established at the Univer-sity of Botswana in 1981 to train teachers to diploma level and educationofficers to degree level. Thus there was a steady decrease in the number ofuntrained teachers from 38.6% in 1978 to 13.3% in 1991.

The following areas still remained problematic:


Table 8 Education enrolment 19791991

Year Primary Junior Secondary Senior Secondary University

1979 156,664 14,165 2,551

1984 209,772 23,500 3,864

1988 261,352 27,989 12,368

1991 298,812 52,866 22,496

1997/98 8,302

Sources: National Commission on Education (1993); Central Statuistics Office (1999)


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access toseniorsecondaryeducationwasstill a problem (NCE2,1993:148); there was still need for equity in the provision of education between rural

and urban areas;

there was still an imbalance in the provision of education between second-ary and primary education. Primary school teachers still had no housing,the schools were not electrified and there wasstill a shortageof classrooms.These problems still persist today. There are still large numbers ofuntrained teachers found in primary schools.

The Commission then made recommendations in four major areas:

(1) Equity: Not only was equity necessary between rural and urban areas, andbetween primary and secondary education, but also for children with

special abilities ordisabilities inand out ofschool education, and by gender.


The Honorable Ministerof Education

PermanentSecretary

University ofBotswana

Coordinatorof RNPE*

Exams, Research& Testing

Planning, Statistics& Research

Deputy Permanent Sec.(Support Services)

Deputy Permanent Sec.(Educ. Dev. Serv.)

ExternalAgencies

MLGH

Other

Ministries

DEPARTMENTS DEPARTMENTS

* The Revised Policy on Education

Figure 2 Structure of the Ministry of Education


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It noted the high access rate to primary education by girls, but their highdrop-out rate at junior and senior secondary level. It further noted theunder-representation of females in science-related areas at tertiary level.Some of the recommendations in this area, including the use of mothertongueat pre-school level andupon demand at primary level, were rejected

by Parliament, and hence are not contained in Appendix 2.(2) Quality: Academic achievement at primary school was still very low, with a

slight improvement at secondary level over the years. The Commissionfurther recommended that the education system should now address qual-

ity issues and reintroduce the 7:3:2:4 system. The development of the teach-


Pre-SchoolCurrently not in Place(only run by NGOs)

Age

22

21

20

19

18

17

16

15

14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

Adult Basic Education(National Literacy

Programme)

Primary SchoolStandard 17

(7 Years)

Senior SecondaryForm 45 (2 Years)

TertiaryInstitutions

Vocational

Training

Level

DistanceEducation

andPart-Time

Study

Junior Secondary SchoolForm 13 (3 Years)

EarlyChildhoodEducation

Primary

Secondary

Tertiary

World

ofWork

Figure 3 Structure of education and training


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ing profession has been identified as the main strategy for addressing thequality of education as teachers have the greatest impact on performance.This development should include enhancing the statusof teachers, provid-ing better working conditions and incentives and improving teacher-train-ing programmes.

(3) School management: The Commission noted that poorly managed schoolsperformed poorly, and recommended measures to address this matter. Forinstance, the role of head teachers was to be clearly defined as instructionalleaders and the appropriate training was to be provided.

(4) Finance: The Commission noted that the education system required costrecoveryandeffective financing systems.Thedevelopment of educationalmanagers and review of the delivery system are critical to improvingeducation.

A total of 134 recommendations were made and those which were accepted arecontained the GovernmentWhite Paper No. 2 called the Revised National PolicyonEducation (RNPE) passed by the NationalAssembly in April 1994.Since thenefforts have been geared towards implementing these recommendations. Thoserecommendations dealing with language are provided in Appendix 2.

The latest availabledata is for 1997, and this does not indicate how the systemhasbeen performing sincethe report. However, it indicates minority-dominatedareas such as Kgalagadi, Ngwaketse, Kweneng, Gantsi andNgamilandhave the

highest number of school drop-outs, the highest repetition rates, the highestnumber of untrained teachers and the greatest shortage of classrooms (CentralStatistics Office, 1999: 24, 30,36).

Language-in-education policies

At independence in 1966, there was no clear policy regarding the mediumof instruction in schools. However, there was a general understanding thatEnglish (the official language, required by the constitution) would constitute

the medium of instruction. Due to the relatively low qualifications of teachers,and their inability to communicate in English, the use of Setswana was toler-ated in lower grades. Other languages, such as Ikalanga,which were taught inschool before independence, were banned from use in school at independ-ence.

The policy assumed the use of English as the medium of instruction at alllevels, with tolerance for Setswana when communication problems occurred inStandards 1 and 2. On the other hand, practice indicated that teachers actuallycode-switched between Setswana and English throughout the primary andsecondary school levels (NCE, 1977a). Practice further indicated that in theNorth-east District, Ikalanga continued to be used as an informal medium ofinstruction in schools despite its ban. Despite this reality, some officials in theMinistry of Education continued to believe that English was the essentialmedium of instruction. More efforts and resources were, therefore, allocatedtowardsthe improvementof the teachingof English and its use as the medium ofinstruction rather than Setswana, which was at that time a non-examinablesubject. The First National Commissionon Education (NCE 1, 1977a: 76) viewed

this situation as one that neglected the national language. It noted that:



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The introductionof English asa medium of instruction as early as Standard3 clearly discriminated against the national language. The Commissionfeels strongly that every nation ought to give a prominent place to itslanguage in its education system.

TheCommissionfurther argued that first languageeducation facilitatesnotonlyearly concept formation but also the acquisition of other languages. TheCommission then recommended the use of Setswana for the first four years ofprimary education. However, it did not make any recommendations on the useof minority languages in education, but rather recommended that a compensa-tory programme should be developed for children who speak other languages.Komarek & Keatimilwe (1988) conducted a feasibility study for the programme.They recommended a transitional model of bilingual education, from mothertongue to Setswana and to English for areas where Setswana is not spoken asmother tongue. However, the government did not accept this recommendation,as it would have contradicted the policy of assimilation.

The second National Commission on Education (NCE 2, 1993: 113) reducedthe number of years for Setswana as medium of instruction from four years toone. This Commission felt that [t]he present language policy denies the childmasteringof themain languageneeded forbetter achievement inprimary schooland in further education and in working life. The Commission viewed firstlanguage education as hindering the childs access to the language of business,

which is English. The argument had little to do with the roleof the first languagein the learningprocess. It also ignored the reality that, before the 1977 policy, lowacademic achievement characterised the education system and yet English wasassumed to be the medium of instruction at that time. Hence, first language usecouldnotbesolely responsible for lowachievement. This Commission,however,recommended the use of the first language, including minority languages, atpre-primary education, but the recommendation was rejected by Parliament.

The language planning processes in Botswana are influenced by an orienta-

tion which views language diversity as a problem, a reversal or negation ofdemocratic gains, a threat to unity, social harmony and to development(Nyati-Ramahobo, 1991: 201). The first President, Sir Seretse Khama, informedthe nation that his party stands for a gradual but sure evolution of a nationstate to which tribal groups will, while in existence, take secondary place(Carter & Morgan, 1980:291). In 1989 the second President, Sir Ketumile Masire,asked Batswana

not to spoil the prevailing peace and unity in the country by fighting for

ethnic language groupings to take precedence over Setswana, and thattribes insisting that their languages become media of instruction withintheir respective areas would break up the nation. (Botswana Daily News, 30

June 1989, no 123:1)

Thesestatements reflect anovertprohibition of the use of other languages. Presi-dent Mogae, then Vice-President, visited the villages of Dukwe and Mosetse intheCentralDistrict todiffuse tension between the BamangwatoandtheBakalakatribesafter two sub-chiefs fromthe former were imposed on the latter. A journal-

ist reporting on the visit wrote:



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He[Mogae] isreported tohavetold residents ofDukwi and Mosetsethatallpeople who live in the Central District should consider themselvesBangwato, thus justifying Ngwato hegemony over tribes like Basarwa,Bakalaka, Babirwa, Batswapong and others. Mogae failed a leadershiptest. This was an opportunity for him to rise to the occasion and concedethat there is indeed a ratherskewed constitutionalarrangement.Instead,hecontinued the tradition of pandering to the whims of the principal tribes.There is sufficient evidence that advocates of tribal equality are all fornational unity, but not at the expense of their integrity. (Moeti, 1998: 9)

This is clearly the assimilatory model of ice-cream plus salt. The President issayingthese tribes havetomeltand giveuptheir culturesand completelyassimi-late into the Ngwato culture. It is overt prohibition of the actualisation of the

cultures of these people. The trend within the ruling Botswana DemocraticPartyis to uphold the constitution, discriminating as itmay be, and those who point tothis problem are quickly labelled tribalistic and engineers of ethnic conflict. Forfear of being labeled as such, critics tend to remain silent. Because of the push formonolingualismandmonoculturalismby theruling party, theRevised NationalPolicy on Education, approved by Parliament in April 1994, contains only thoserecommendations of the NCE 2 which deal with teaching of Setswana andEnglish (see Appendix 2).

It is worth noting that, while the new policy has advocated the use of English

as the medium of instruction (18(a)) at the expense of Setswana, the rest of therecommendations advocate the use of Setswana in education. Recommendation3, which calls for the formulation of a comprehensive language policy, couldpossibly promote Setswana in other social domains, such as business, technol-ogy, government, law and in the political structures. It is also worth noting thatrecommendationnumber 46(b) assumesthat jobopportunities requiring compe-tence in Setswana are available. Research indicates that such job requirementsare currently rarely found in advertisements as compared to those requiring

competence in English (Nyati-Ramahobo, 1991). This practice constitutes amajor demotivating factor for both learners and teachers of Setswana. Theeconomic use of Setswana must diversify beyond radio announcers, court inter-preters and teachers to accommodate Setswana as a language of social mobilityand consequently, must absorb the productsof the educationsystem. A compre-hensive language policy will have to take this issue very seriously in order tofacilitate the implementation of recommendations 31 and 46(b). Five years aftertheapprovalof the policy, none of therecommendations hasbeen implemented,except that preparations are currently underway to implement 18(a), dealing

with the use of English at Standard 2. More resources continue to be directedtowards the use of English in all social domains including education. This prac-tice has led scholars and citizens to believe that the government is pushing formonolingualism in English and, to some extent, recognition of the role ofSetswana.

The language-in-education policy therefore relates to the specific use ofSetswana and English in education. Since none of the recommendations of theNCE 2 have been implemented, the NCE 1 policy concerning medium of instruc-

tion isstill in place. Setswana is therefore the medium of instruction inStandards



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1 to 4 while English is taught as a subject in those grades. English then becomesthe medium of instruction in Standard 5 and extends through the tertiary level,while Setswana is taught as a subject (Republic of Botswana,1977:4). This policyapplies to all government schools in the country. Private schools use English asthe medium of instruction from Standard 1 onward, but they have a flexiblepolicy on the number of years they teach Setswana as a subject. Since independ-ence, a credit in English has been a requirement in order to matriculate.However, there are plans to change this policy as from the year 2000. Access tothe university requires a pass in English except for science subjects. A degree inSetswana is offered in English and a pass in English is required to enter theprogramme.

The assimilationmodel,which is guided by the orientationviewing languagediversity as a problem, is quite evident in the language-in-education policy.

There is an overt prohibition of the use of other languages for learning. Subse-quently, minority dominated areas continue to be educationally disadvantaged.The overemphasisonEnglish ismeant toexpose learners to the languageof tech-nology, social mobility and globalisation. There is tension, therefore, in balanc-ing the role of the various local languages against Setswana on the one hand, and

between Setswana and English on the other hand. Arthur (1996: 46) argues thatthis inequality reflects and perpetuates hierarchical language values in Bots-wana society, as does the official exclusion of languages other than English andSetswana from classroom use. English is most valued and most people wouldreport that they speak it even if they cannot (Vossen, 1988). This is furtherreflected in the allocation of resources in which English receives the greatestshare in terms of qualified teachers, time tabling and, of course, policy direction.Setswana is second, though policy direction and its recent use in Parliamentrecognises it as the national language. Minority languages are the least valuedand are addressed neither by policy nor by practice. Wolfson & Manes (1985)argue that ones native language is so much a part of ones identity that to deni-grate it is effectively to deny ones human ability to communicate (foreword).

Devaluing ones language is equivalent to devaluing that person. In this regard,assimilationist policies that deny children the opportunity to learn in theirmother tongue are viewed as inhuman.

Objectives and assessment

Syllabi are prepared by Curriculum Development Officers (CDOs) in theMinistry of Educations Department of Curriculum Development and Evalua-tion. Some of the responsibilities of CDOs include setting out the broad goals of

the syllabus, aswell asadvice on howmaterialsare to beused in the teachingandlearning situation to achieve the objectives of the syllabus.The objectives of the Setswana and English syllabi are quite similar and canbe

summarised as follows. Both syllabi are written in English:

tohelp childrenin acquiring the verynecessaryskills of listening, speaking,reading and writing;

to ensure that children apply these skills in communicating in their envi-ronment, with other children, adults and the mass media;

to serve as a basis for further education;



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to lay a sound foundation for the growth of Setswana and English as themedia of instruction;

to promote creativity on the part of children; to encourage the study and preservation of Setswana culture;

to help children appreciate that good spoken Setswana will be acquired athome as well as at school; to provide a curriculum that will strengthen Setswana as an important

instrument in nation building (Ministry of Education, 1982: 1).

Data from interviews indicate that the main purpose of teaching Setswana iscultural identity and early concept formation. It is believed that cultural identityand preservationwill beachieved ifbooks are written inSetswanafor children inStandards 1 to 4 (old policy, NCE 1) or in Standard 1 only (new policy, NCE 2).

The question of early concept formation seems to be defined as early as Standard4. The purposeof teaching English is that it is the language of wider communica-tion, business and the world of work.

The methodology for teaching both Setswana and English is said to be thecommunicative approach. The decision to change to this approach came as arecommendation from the first NCE, which thought that language teachingconcentrated on grammar and proverbs at the expense of literacy skills of read-ing and writing. The rationale for this approach is that we dont expect childrento analyse the language before they can use it (Ramatsui, 30 July 1989, personal

communication). It is also necessary for the ten years of the basic educationprogramme, which seeks to provide children with skills they need in their dailylives. The communicativesyllabi, developed after the Commissions recommen-dation, came out in 1982 providing a few communicative topics, but remainedlargely structural. However, the syllabi were further revised in 1995. Books thatwere developed by publishing companies in 1998 for handling the new syllabiwere based on the communicative approach to teaching and assessment. Thesehave only been used in schools for one year so far, hence their impact and rele-

vance has not yet been assessed.Examinations are taken after seven years of primary schooling, three years of

junior secondary and two years of senior secondary education. The firstCommission had recommended continuous assessment and remedial teachingto enhance performance. These recommendations have not been implemented.The achievement of universal primary education and ten years of basic educa-tion have meant that the primary school leaving examinations (PSLE) haveceasedtobe a selectiontool. About 95.3%ofstudents proceed to junior secondaryschool (Central Statistics Office, 1999: xiv). Consequently, examinations have

changed from normreference tocriterionreference. A childs performance is notcompared with other children, but with a set of criteria.

The new syllabi emphasise that assessment techniques should focus on find-ing out whether children can read, write, speak and listen. The teacher shouldfocus on assessing students ability to read for different purposes, to write ondifferent topics for different audiences, to listenandspeak in different situations.If children can perform these four language skills as defined for each skill objec-tive for each grade level, it automatically means they have the ability to use

languagerules at thecompetence required at theequivalent grade level. Thenew



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syllabus further states that continuous assessment should be an integral part ofthe language assessment procedure. For instance, students should be assessed

based on the number of books they have voluntarily read, written reports andtalked about in class.Criterion-reference testing shouldbeuseful especially if theskill objectives are to be used as the assessment criteria. This type of testing wasimplemented for the first time in 1997 and there is a general belief that perfor-mance has improved (Central Statistics Office, 1999: 107). The overall pass ratehas improved when grades C and D form part of the aggregate. However, whenonly A and B grades areused to form the overall pass grade there is no improve-ment. It is appropriate to include students in grades C and D as they are alsoadmissible to junior secondary school.

While the official approach to language teaching is communicative, there isevidence that assessment has continued to reflect the structural approach, even

in the wake of criterion-reference testing that has been adopted for all subjects.All primary school leaving examinations and all other examinations (except forthe subject Setswana) at secondary school level are in English. The attainmenttests for mathematics, English and science which are written at the end of Stan-dard 4 are in Setswana. Tests on the subject English are written in the Englishlanguage. The tests are meant to determine whether children have achieved

basic literacy in Setswana and basic competence in English and Mathematics(Republic of Botswana, 1977: 4). However, it is not a pass-or-fail test as there is apolicy ofautomaticpromotion.Rather, the Standard4 attainmenttest is meant tocurb the shortcomings of the automatic promotion policy in the sense that it isintended to identify those children who need extra help before they proceed to,or when theyenter, Standard 5. It is, however, reported that remedial work is notalways provided since teachers either are not trained in remedial teaching or donot have enough time to do it (Nyati-Ramahobo, 1999a).

MediaLanguages

The roleof the media in national life in Botswanadatesback to 1850s (Sechele,1998). It was part of what was called the Tswana Press in South Africa. Sechelereports that the Tswana Press was:

a journalism thatwas based on the Setswana language in the areas occu-pied by Setswana-speaking people of Bechuanaland protectorate (nowBotswana), Northern Cape, the former Transvaal, and the former OrangeFree State in South Africa. (p. 412)

The printed press written in Setswana contributed to the spread of Christianityand the acquisition of literacy skills. It also contributed to the quality of life ofBatswana by providing information on events around them. For instance, in1886, a newspaper called Mahoko a Bechuana published an article about a whitemanwho delayed village development by selling liquor to the Bakgalagadi tribein Lehututu (South Africa). The Abantu-Batho (People) which reported in Zuluand Setswana played a major role in developing political awareness in the Afri-can masses and became a strong organ of the African National Congress. Therewere also newspapers based in Bechuanaland: Lesedi la Sechaba (the light of the

nation), which was based in the Kgatleng district, the Lebone la Bechuana (the



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lamp of Tswana people) and Naledi ya Batswana (the star of the Batswana).Botswanas second President, Sir Masire Ketumile was a reporter for the latter.This paper reported on the chieftainship issue between the Batawana and theBayeyi in 1948. All these papers reported in Setswana. While there was no overtprohibition of the use of other languages, there was no overt permission norpromotion of these languages in the media either, because the missionaries hadonly codified Setswana. It is not clear why, but the Setswana language press nolonger exists, not even in South Africa.

There are currently eight private newspapers in the country. All of them arewritten in English. One of them includes pages in Setswana and a column inIkalanga. They circulate mainly in larger villages and towns. Since their birth in1982, the independent media have provided an alternative voice in a countrydominated by government media (Sechele, 1998). Many believe that the inde-

pendent media have exposed corruption, political arrogance, insensitivity, lackof transparency and accountability on the part of government (Grant & Egner,1989). Mostpeople believe that itwas thismedia coverage that led to the increasein opposition seats in Parliament from three to thirteen in the 1994 general elec-tions (Sechele, 1998). The independent media continued to serve this function inthe 1999 general elections. The landslide win by the ruling party is attributednotto the fact that Batswana have gained confidence in that party but rather toin-fighting and the subsequent split of the opposition party twelve months

before the general elections. The ruling party is viewed by many as having runout of strategies to win elections other than to divide the opposition party. Thetwelve constituencies that the opposition won in 1994 still voted for the opposi-tion in 1999, despite the split. A stronger opposition would have weakened therulingparty even more thanin1994.Themedia isseen ascentral instrengtheningdemocracy in Botswana.

However, the media have problems which limit their impact. These includethe low levels of literacy inrural areas, self-censorship bysome editors for fear ofvictimisation, lack of facilities, untrained staff and insufficient motivation on the

part of reporters. The language policy which promotes English and to someextent Setswana limits the effective flow of information to the rural areas. As aresult, voter and AIDS education are limited to towns and major villages(Sechele, 1998). Legislation has also limited the freedom of the press. Forinstance, in1995 the DirectorateonCorruption and EconomicCrime Act was putinplace toprohibit journalists from reporting on cases that are still under investi-gation. The Directorate investigates white-collar crimes, including those thatmight be committed by ministers.

TheGovernment Printer provides a special service specifically for thegovern-ment. It prints all government documents. Government ministries and depart-ments place orders which are entered in a register indicating the date the orderwasplaced, the type of job tobedone, thenumber required and thedatethe orderwas collected. The Ministries of Agriculture, Commerce and Health wereselected for a study to find out the language in which the government communi-cates with the general public. The Ministry of Agriculture was a suitable choicesince a large portion of the population depends onagriculture,which makes upasignificant partof the economy. In1982 the government, through the Ministry of

Commerce and Industry, introduced the Financial Assistance Policy (FAP) to



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encourage ordinary citizens to start small-scale businesses by lending themmoney. This policy was designed to create employment opportunities and tohelp Batswana to take part in the business world (Republic of Botswana, 1985:239). One might expect, as a consequence of this policy, that an increase incommunication between the government and the general public, informingthem about these programmes, about how to get startedand about future plans,wouldoccur.The Ministry ofHealthisanagencythatdeals withissuesthataffectthe whole population, not just a segment of it, and especially within the frame-work of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Thus communication with the people abouthealth matters is vital and inevitable.

Data collected from the three ministries indicated that 61% of the documentsfor public consumption in the Ministry of Agriculture were written completelyin English, while 95% of those for the Ministry of Commerce and Industry were

writtenin English aswell. TheseEnglish documentsincludedall the formswhichmembers of the public have to complete when applying for financial assistance.The Ministry of Health had more bilingual documents (42%) than those either inEnglish or Setswana.Within the threegovernment ministries, themain languageis English. Thus 100%of the documents which were not for public consumption,were inEnglish, while 59%of the documents meant for public consumption werealsoin English. Thegovernment, therefore, communicateson health, agricultureand commercial issues to the general public in written English. For instance, it isnot unusual to find health posters written in English in the most remote areas ofthe country. The forms designed to obtain financial assistance are all in English,irrespective of the level of education of the applicant (Nyati-Ramahobo, 1991).This situation is unlikely to change in the next decade.

Programmes aired each week by the government-owned stations wereanalyzed to find out the language of broadcasting. The private radio station,which focuses on the needs of the youth, broadcasts mainly (70%) in English.Data on the two government stations indicated that 36 (42%) programmes werein Setswana, 19 (22%) in English and 30 (35%) were in both Setswana and

English. Ananalysisof the programmesgenerated byeachof the three ministriespreviously mentioned wascarried out.The results indicated that62%of the totalnumber of programmes in the three selected ministries were in Setswana.

The government also owns one newspaper, the Daily News. That newspaperconsists of eight pages, of which six and a half are writtenin English. The last oneand half pages are translations into Setswana of material on the previous pages.The government therefore communicates with the general public mainly inEnglish. It is worth noting that the newspaper does not reach the more remoteareas of the country; as a consequence, only people in major villages and townshave access to the paper. Based on the data about the newspaper and radio, itmay be concluded that the government seems to prefer Setswana on the radioand English inwrittenformat.Only thesetwolanguages areused in the media.

The government has been reluctant to provide radio licences for privatelyowned radio stations. For many years, people were made to believe that theOffice of the President was responsible for issuing such licences. This office inturn kept informing the public that no legislation exists to allow such licencing.When a young lawyer, Patrick Gunda, took the government to court on this

matter in 1994, it became clear that the Botswana Telecommunications Corpora-



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tion wascharged with that responsibility.Previous references to the Office of thePresident were meant to discourage privately owned radio stations, wheregovernment censorshipwould be more difficult. Stationscouldalsobroadcastinminority languages. Mr Gunda losthis bid for a radio stationlicence, ashis appli-cation indicated the intended use of minority languages. This suggests that thereis a covert prohibition on the use of minority languages i

Documents

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