From Sacred Initiation to Bureaucratic Apostasy: Junior secondary school-leavers and the secularisation of education in southern Africa

Abstract

In the country now known as Botswana, the history of Tswana culture prior to British colonialism in the nineteenth century shows a tribal or pre-urban spirituality, a strong kinship organisation and a systematic approach to the training of youth both informally and formally. This pre-colonial pedagogy defined the Tswana cosmology and the way future adults related to their society as productive members. The European missionaries who came at the eve of colonialism interpreted education and work in a manner that had less continuity with Tswana culture. This trend was developed further by secular educators and institutionalised by post-colonialist, independent Botswana. The Botswana government has been rapidly expanding its formal academic education system. Although practical programmes of education with production like the Brigades supported local development and the transition from the pre-colonial era, they are now facing obsolescence. Thousands of junior secondary school-leavers are being added to the ranks of the underemployed each year, while competition for academic credentials increases. Government reluctance to offer training for practical employment skills reflects a deference to secular Western education and production models and the need to understand better their effects on the tribal culture.