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A Multi-Sectorial Approach in Education for Equity, Social Inclusion and Empowerment in Botswana
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Abstract
Social ills, including but by no means limited to
HIV/AIDS, poverty,
political instability
, substance abuse, home
based vio
lence, school
drop outs, teenage
pregnancy,
child neglect and abuse
ha
ve
destabilised
hitherto existing
social networks,
leading to
an increase in vulnerable groups in
many developing
nations.
These
have
necessitated
national, international and global responses to miti
gate these threats.
One
of the
initiative
s
, which is
of interest in this paper, is the
Community Based Work with Children and Youth
(CBWCY)
Programme
that
was developed by the
Regional Pyscho
-
Social Support Initiative (REPSSI) and the United Nations International
Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) in 2004. CBWCY is a certificate programme aimed at upgrading
the
knowledge
, skills
,
attitudes, behaviours
and abilities
of caregivers
who
look
after v
ul
nerable
children
and
youth
at the community level.
Th
is
programme has been rolled out in
eleven
countries
in the SADC region.
In
Botswana, the programme started in 2012 and it is being offered by the Botswana Open University
(BOU)
.
Using
desktop research
and authors experience
, this paper has looked at how multi sectorial approach to
education necessitated equity, social inclusion and empowered the marginalized communiti
es in Botswana. The
approach includes
the d
evelopment of need based c
urriculum by
REPSSI
and
UNICEF,
quality assurance
of the
pro
gramme by the University of KwaZulu
-
Natal
and the adoption of
the
program
by BOU
as a community
service initiative
.
BOU
lowered
entry requirements to accommodate candidates who did not qualify
to study at
a university level
and
provided multiple learner support initiatives to
assist students
cope wi
th studying
.
The
g
overnment
of Botswana
appreciated the value of psychosocial support
by volunteers
at community level and
found it fitting
to profe
ssionalise
the service. To this end, the
government has
provided funding for child care
takers in hostels for children in remote area
s
to enrol for the programme // Paper ID 202
Subject
Country
Botswana
Region
Africa
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Date
2019-09
ORCID
Corporate Author
Editor
Publisher
Commonwealth of Learning (COL)