Public Examinations and Educational Advance in Botswana M. Francis A notable feature of Botswana's educational system is the supreme importance attached to performance in public examinations. It appears to many observers that the whole educational enterprise is geared to these exa- minations and that they dominate the educational thinking of parents, children, planners and the co.munity at large. Botswana is not however alone in giving such an emphasis and the growing stress on examination performance in many countries throughout the world has been giving educat'rs cause for serious thought. A recent book discussing this trend was, for example, rather provocatively entitled '!he Diploma Disease'. 1 To those for whom educational opportunity is new or the rewards of education within their grasp for the first time these may sound harsh words. On the other hand, it is apparent from research studies in other countries that examinations frequently have effects that were unintended and that are restric- tive and inhibiting and that it is therefore wise to keep the situation carefully under review. This paper is an attempt to draw together ideas about the significance of the existing public exa- minations for the education system of Botswana. It. main argument is that the present overriding emph.sia on exa.ination success, though understandable in the short tera, is detrimental in the long run to the achievement of Botsvana's developmental goals. Taking over at Independence a grossly inadequate education structure it vas inevitable that the Government's first priority should be to try to satisfy the demand for trained and qualified "'pover. Though this need remains, it is suggested that the time has come to replace the emphasis on examination perforaance as currently understood vith objectives more appropriate to the vhole school population and to the country's more general goals. Although a number of different public exami- nations are taken by various groups of students in Botsvana the focus of this paper is on the three that concern the largest numbers and which so clearly determine chances of further education - the Primary School Leavers Examination (PSLE) taken at the end of Standard 7, the Junior Certificate (JC) taken at the end of Form 3 of secondary school, and the Cambridge Overseas School Certificate (COSC) taken at the end of Form 5. These are public examinations in the sense that all students at a given time sit the same examination papers vhich have been set and are marked by some authority other than the school the student attends. The PSLE is a national examination vith some of the papers set by subject specialists and so•• ~y the Regional Testing Centre. The JC is a regional examination taken along with Lesotho and Swaziland and is se~ and administered by a regional council. The COSC is an international examination run by the Local Examinations Syndicate in Cambridge, England. It is noteworthy, therefore, that as the level of the examination increases, and vith it the possibility of entry to an even higher level of education, so the more external the examination becomes. Inevitably, for many students each examina- tion is terminal. Those who do vell in PSLE go on to secondary school; those who score highly in the JC exami- nation enter Fora 4 while some of those vho do not per- 2 tor. so well enter some torm at proteseional training such as tor primary teaching; thoee who achieve a credit- able COSC quality for entry into the University or other poet COSC training like Nursing. Thoee who do not pertor8 to these levels drop out. For inevitably an exaainatioD that is used tor selection is also a device tor exclusion. The pressure to do well in the public exa.i- nations is easily demonstrable tro. the tigures ot the proportions of students at one stage of education who are given the opportunity to proceed to the next stage. 1ft In 1976 tor instance out of just over 14 000 children who took the PSLE only around 2 800 were awarded places in Government or Government Aided secondary schools. This tigure is only 2~ of the total nu.bers in Standard 7 at the time and this proportion has operated tor at least the last six years. Yet under the present circumstances entry to secondary school was the major, if not only, reason for taking the examination and tor many the sale reason for going to primary school in the first place. These figures have to be set in the context of high primary school attendance, estimated as far as statistics permit to be approaching 8~ of the school age populatio~ particularly at the younger levels. These proportions are also in sharp contrast to those for Swaziland which promotes about 7~ of its primary school pupils to .econdary school, but at the same time is operating with only about 6~ at the primary school age population actually in school. Further, despite the increased provision at secondary level being planned by Government, the actual proportion at Standard 7 leavers able to enter secondary school will in fact decrease. There has been a rapid increase in primary enrolments since 1973 and thia wave will begin to reach Standard 7 in 1979. Yet under existing Government policies the proportion of pupils entering Form 1 vill decline to l~ in 1979/80 and to only 14. in 1981/82. Thus from a higher primary school enrolment base than in many developing countries, there 3 is very restricted opportunity for further education within the public system and this opportunity will actu- ally decline. The pattern is similar at the other two cut- off points. In 1975 out of 1 650 pupils from Government and Aided schools who took the JC examination only 880 or 53. entered Form 4. Yet despite growth in the number of Form 4 places, the actual proportion able to enter is decreasing from year to year. The projections for entry in 1917 allowed ~, but because of the levelling off in available places fro. 1979 only 4~ of JC candidates will 2 enter Form 4 that year, 47,5. in 1980 and 46% in 1981. At COSC level there was a downward trend in pass rates for a number of years that was reversed only in 1975. But even in 1975 only 54% of the 686 candidates that sat the examination obtained a full certificate and less than one in five obtained a pass in division 1 or division 2 that qualified the candidate for admission to the University. !he results deteriorated again in 1976. Out of 872 students who sat the examination only 4~ (429) obtained the full certificate and only 16% obtained a pass in division 1 or division 2. In 1977 there was a welcome improvement in the general level of results with 6~ obtaining the full certificate and 26% a pass in division 1 or division 2.3 But the general pattern of a tough selection process is the same. And, as with oppor- tunity to enter Form 1 and lorm 4, present plans are that the actual proportion of Form 5 leavers able to enter degree courses in the University will drop from 2~ in 1975 to 18. in 1979. !he significance of doing well in the public examinations is in turn clearly demonstrable from a study of e.ployment possibilities and related levels of salary- The key to employment in the public service is JC. The only cadres that will accept direct entrants with Standard 7 into permanent establishment are the police and the Prisons Service, although Standard 7 completers can rise to peraanent and pensionable poats in the Industrial 4 class. With JC howeTer a candidate can enter as a clerical assistant or on a traineeship and promotion 1s possible right through the service. The possession of COSC need not in itself give the entrant an advantage since the good JC entrant vi11 be at the same level after tvo years in the service, but there are some openings for COSC holders only. Graduates may enter at more senior levels. It is theoretically possible for a clerical entrant to become a Chief Executive Officer in 14 years, secretarial entrants can progress on acquisition of appro- priate speeds in shorthand and typing, and technical entrants, one of the largest groups, can move to the top of the technical scale, though lack of formal qualifica- tions frequently prohibits entry to courses necessary for promotion. Salaries are closely related to the level of qualifications. The successful clerical entrant can mul- tiply his salary 10 ti.es and it has been estimated that a pupil vho completes three years at secondary school ia virtually guaranteed a salary 10 ti.es the national per capita income. The differentials in the teaching service illustrate the position vell. Prior to the 1978 salaries reviev, the average salary of primary school teachers, where the highest level of education is three years at secondary school, vas P1 000 per year. The untrained primary teacher vith only Standard 7 education, and 3~ of the teaching force is in this category, vaa much less than Pl 000. The average salary of a secondary school teacher vho will usually possess a post-COSC qualifica- tion or degree vas P2 700 per year. Amongst these the holder of the three year Teachers Certificate taken at the University started at P2 424 vhi1e the holder of a University degree which has taken one year longer than the Teachers Certificate started at P3 264 if the degree vas in Humanities subjects and P3 432 if in Science sub- jects. The average salary of a member of the University staff vas P5 384 per year. As the National Commission on Education co•• ented, 'the currently high income 5 differentials for people with different 1eye1s of educa- tional qualifications are a major factor in fuelling the deaand for education in Botswana.,4 ane of the results of restricted access to secondary schooling and relatively high salaries for tho Be who gain access has been the establishment of a large priyate and continuation school sector. The 1976 Educa- tion Statistics indicated that there were 17 such schools registered and approyed and that they accounted for 36~ of all pre-JC secondary school enrolments. And despite the diainishing chances of obtaining further education, the majority of primary school pupils retain the highest aspirationa. Research undertaken as part of the National Education Commission's enquiries has indicated that over ~ of Standard ? pupils expect more education and that abo.t half of those expect education beyond the secondary level. This process of selection through examination ~ccess is not a phenomenon that is peculiar to Botswana. It is a feature of many countries and not just Third World countries and has increasingly been the subject of co.. ent and analysis by various speCialists, particularly sociologists. Although their early analyses concerned .odern industria1ised countries the principles are aore and aore being applied to other countries and can also be related to Botswana. The general position is well stated by Banks. 'ane of the main features of a modern indust- rial society is the extent to which the educational system is the aeans by which individuals are not merely trained for but allocated to their occupational roles. This allocative or selective function i. a direct consequence ot the demands made by an advanced industrial economy for highly trained manpower.,5 Insofar &s Botswana has under- standably had to concentrate on producing sufficient local per.ODDe1 to fill the many positions in the modern state, the education system has fulfilled this allocatiye role. Since the new expertise could only be acquired through formal education entry to the new occupations became 6 dependent upon the acquisition of the necessary educa- tional qualifications. Thus education determined t4e level at which an individual entered and moved in the labour market. And since there are few alternative patterns of mobility in Botswana access to the most senior and financially rewarding positions in the occupa- tional structure became more and more dependent upon the certifying functions of schools and hence upon examina- tion success. The certificate thus becomes the major filter determining life chances and the more external the examination is the more the allocation appears objec- tive and just. Further, the significance of the certifying role performed by educational institutions is frequently enhanced by the competitive nature of the examinations. Often the number of successful candidates is predetermined. This is true of Botswana in the sense that the number of places available in Form 1 and Form 4 is and will increas- ingly be more or less fixed. Additionally, it appears that both the PSLE and the JC examination are graded roughly in relation to the number of places available. The result is that the letter grade that is awarded does not necessarily indicate the same level of performance from one year to the next and thus the quality of entrants bearing the same examination grade may also vary from year to year. Another common feature of the stress on exa- minations is the special composition of the group that is deemed to be successful. It has been argued that examination results reflect the existing social hierar- chies in that academic results 'constitute the symbolic translation of the rank ordering of the cognitive and cultural styles of groups occupying differing positions in the social 1adder.,6 The children of parents who have themselves been educated are more likely to succeed in the competitive scramble for places beyond primary school than the children of parents who have not. There thus develops an elite who are able to provide their children with considerable advantages over the rest which are likely to be reflected in examination performance. 7 Further analysis requires that these comments be integrated into some kind of classificatory framework. Some years ago an American sociologist, Ralph Turner, suggested such a framework for studying education as a selective process that seems applicable to the situation in Botswana.? Turner distinguished between two general modes of ascent, sponsored mobility and contest mobility, both of which are founded upon quite different ideological positions and different elite structures. It should be remembered that these are ideal types and that they were originally formulated from observed differences between the systems of stratification and education of two simi- lar urban-industrialised societies, Britain and America. The models have also been criticised and modified by other sociologists. Nevertheless the contrast and cate- gorisation are suggestive and illuminating for Botswana. The fundamental idea in the first of these modes of ascent, sponsored mobility, is a controlled selection process. Mobility is neither won nor seized but rather is a process of sponsored induction into the elite subsequent upon selection. By contrast, contest mObility implies a competition open to all on an equal footing, with victory being gained by one's own efforts. In Turner's own words, 'The governing objective of contest mobility is to give elite status to those who earn it, while the goal of sponsored mobility is to make the best use of the talents in society by sorting each person into his proper niche.,8 The ideal credentials for aponsored mobility are special skills requiring the trained discrimination of the elite for their recognition, for example intellectual, literary or artistic excellen- cea. This is in marked contra.t to a contest mObility ayat •• where society at large establishes and interprets the criteria for elite status and where the credentials ~st be visible to all and require no special skill for their asse.sment. Turner suggests that material posse- aaion and mas. popularity are perfect credentials in this respect. 8 TWo implications of sponsored mobility sys- tems have special significance. The first is that selec- tion viII almost certainly be undertaken early in order to ensure control over both the selection process and the training. The other is the strict control over entry, so that only that number will be selected vhich is necessary to fill the number of anticipated vacancies. Sponsored mobility is thus typical of societies vith a well en- trenched traditional aristocracy or of a society organised along large-scale bureaucratic lines, permitting central- ised control of movement up the hierarchy of success. Turner suggested that in many respects patterns of selec- tion in Britain folloved the principles of sponsored mobility while those in America approximated more to contest mobility. It seems clear from the description of the significance of examination success that the educational system in Botswana approximates closely to Turner's model of sponsored mobility. Opportunities for primary education have increased greatly, particularly since the reduction in school fees in 1973 and considerably beyond Government forecasts. But entry to post-primary school- ing is strictly controlled by the central Government and is offered in rela~ion to manpower projections. The major selective criterion is examination success. In relating post-primary educational oppor- tunities to manpower needs Botswana has taken a realistic approach to the allocation of scarce resources and has followed the example of other developing countries. The general statement about educational opportunity in Swaziland's Development Plan is almost identical to Botswana's. On the other hand manpower planning has also reiaforced the sponsored mobility system. Attention has inevitably been concentrated on the formal qualifications obtained through formal schooling, and as the National Commission on Education noted, this has tended to under- value experience on the job and skills not easily certi- fiable. The employment of large numbers of e~patriates 9 haa further aeant that localisation has been understood .a finding local citizens with the same qualifications . obtained in the same way, and this in turn has resulted in high salary differentials in favour of those who have obtained the formal qualifications. Manpower planning has therefore been re~ponsible both for restricting edu- cational opportunity and for the high salaries of the successful which have encouraged the aspirations for greater educational opportunity. In the past manpower forecasts have always required a limited expansion of educational opportunity and thus have appeared to be working alongside social aspiration. But, as the Nati~ Co.aission on Education noted, from the 19808 it is planned that this growth should slow down proportionateJT and thus aanpower planning will increasingly becoae the opponent of the expansion demanded by social aspiration? Baving described the significance of exami- nation success and put the selection process in context, it is time to examine the effects of the situation on the schools themselves. Educators have always been aware of the likely conaeqaences of a heavy emphasis on examina- tion auccesa and of the tension between a realistic appraiaal of their pupils' life-chances on the one hand and a commitment to the less measurable benefits of edu- cation on the other. The distinction that is currently frequently made between schooling and education symbo- lises the broader concerns of the educator. However, it is not nece.sa~ to adopt an intrinsic view of education in order to perceive the far-reaching consequences of an examination orientation, nor are these consequences peculiar to one country. Dore, in 'The Diploma Disease' describes vividly the certification syndrome that is almost universally applicable. Nevertheless it ia necessary to briefly describe the more significant con- sequences in order to demonstrate the effects of the stress on examinations on Botswana schools. The major consequence is on the attitudes of all those involved in the school syste., including 10 pupils, parents, teachers and adainistratora.Success at school is understood almost exclusively as success in the examinations. Pupils who do not achieve the level required to proceed are considered to have failed and their schooling is considered to have been a failure. ~is view is in turn both reflected in and fostered by the way the examination results are customarily represen- ted and reported. As a corollary the teacher's effici- ency is judged by the examination results of his pupils. This situation has the most disquieting 'impli- cations and consequences. First, such a wide imbalance between expectations on the one hand and opportunities on the other engenders resentment and hostility. Dis- illusionment sets in and the young person whose ambitions have been dashed and the adult whose investment in and hopes for his children have come to a premature ending may have little enthusiasm for other ventures in develop- ment. A system that labels three quarters of its primary school leavers 'failures' cannot expect much in return from them. It is a well-accepted principle that people adopt the stance that is expected of them and in other countries the premature labelling of children has been found to be an influential factor in the causes of low achievement and uncooperative attitudes at school. There are of course those who refuse to .ccept the ver- dict of the examinations and who strive to enter conti- nuation and evening classes or take on correspondence courses. But for many more schooling has been a most discouraging and frustrating experience. Secondly, to evaluate the success of schooling solely by reference to examination performance is to adopt an extremely limited view of the purpose of schools in society. Schools existed before the certifi- cation race was begun and the young ~ave always been subjected to deliberate instruction. Objectives like socialisation, moral training and preparation for life in the community remain valid. They were outlined in the Report of the National Commission on Education and 11 were accepted in the Government's White Paper. But even within what may be termed the academic work the examina- tions test so little of what should be aimed at. Botswana needs craftsmen, farmers and a citizenry that is able to appreciate something of the world and is able to contrib~ constructively to the country's development. It is signi- ficant that the National Education Commission Report stressed the need for curricular reform in order to get away from the situation where what is learned is deter- mined by some view of what is deemed desirable for the few who will continue their education through the next stage. Thirdly, the stress on examination success has an inhibiting effect both on the curriculum itself and frequently also on teaching methods. Inevitably the most desired methods are those most likely to bring the success required, certainly in the short term. It should not be surprising that in general it is the most qualified or the most experienced primary teachers who take the Standard 7 classes to the neglect of the more junior children who perhaps could benefit more, or that memorisation techni- ques are widesprea~ if that is what the examination requires, or that examination subjects receive the lion's share of the time. In the circumstances it is understand- able that schools teach for the examination. The experience of Kenya is typical. Somerset, for example, remarks that the Primary Leavers Examination in Kenya has caused the exploratory, activity-oriented methods that had been successfully introduced in the lower standards to give way to a more traditional approach emphasising memorisation and practice on past question papers in the upper standards.lO The content of lessons is similarly determined and again from Kenya, King demonstrates how what is taught is decided more from an analysis of what ll has been tested before than from the official sYllabus. And all of this totally ignores the biggest question, whether what is being taught is relevant and useful for the kind of lives the majority of the children will lead 12 when they haTe left school. As Xing says, the exaaina- tion is increasingly being identified as the major reason for cramming, rote learning, stereotyped teaching and an irrelevant and limited curriculum. Fourthly, a system where educational oppor- tunity beyond the primary level is offered almost exclu- sively in relation to manpower forecasts is one that allocates to employment on a fairly strict basis of exa- mination achievement. Pupils are allocated to positions in the hierarchy of jobs on the basis of academic quali- fications and with few second chances the result is a fairly rigid stratification within society which brings its own problems. It is suggested that all four of these effects are detrimental to the achievement of Botswana's long term goals. With such vast development probleas ani manpower shortages the country cannot afford either irrelevant learning or the gearing of the education s1s- tem to the interests of a few. Rather than putting people off learning primary schools need to lay the foundation for more and more adult learning of the kind being pursued by the many agencies involved in non-formal education activities. While the purpose of schooling 1s limited in people's minds to social mobility through certification other educational objectives of .ore direct relevance to the majority and to Botswana's needs are lost. A curriculum that is characterised by rote learning is unlikely to produce the flexibility of mind and action needed in a rapidly changing world, and a con- tent and attitude relevant to a selection device for more academic education will not also be relevant to the needs of a predominantly rural community. But as evidence collected by the National Commission on Education demons- trates schools at present are not even achieving their own limited academic objectives well.12 And the absence of ladders and bridges offering second chances and alter- native routes to thoBe restricted by school examination results to a particular stratum of society thwarts ambi- 13 tion, diverts energies and rests uneasily alongside the national ideals of democracy and unity. In seeking to remedy the situation it is im- portant not to conclude that everything has to be thrown away. In the first place when resources are limited selection procedures are inevitable. ~ith money in short supply there is stiff competition for funds and on this ground alone it seems necessary that schools should retain some kind of selection role. Botswana is not in a posi- tion to adopt the drastic solutions of 80me countries. If however this inevitability is accepted there would aeem to be only two general approaches to change; one concerning the actual examinations and one concerning attitudes towards them. Initially examinations, properly administered and marked, were introduced to protect individuals from the abuse of power that any Establishment is likely to co.mit and to protect Governments and businesses from charge. of corruption and favouritism. In Britain for example examinations were introduced for entry into the Civil Service to widen the availability of talent and to provide a more just way of allocating responsibility. The.e are i.portant gains and must not be forgotten. So.e of the possible alternatives to competitive examina- tions, like allocation according to wealth or rank, are even less desirable. It is however important that any selection process be seen as just and acceptable and that it iden- tifies the best people. Some of the dissatisfaction with the existing public examinations in Botswana centres around these two aspects. There are charges of unfair- ness in the setting or marking or preparation of candi- dates and of the unfair advantage some children have over others. There are obvious difficulties when assessment ia controlled froa outside the country. It is true that at the technical level the validity and reliability of the examinations could be improved, that the chances of euccess could be equalised more and that content could be 14 altered. Somerset's paper in the National Education Commission's Report looks at this aspect in some detail in relation to the PSLE.13 While examinations remain it is crucial that such matters receive attention. However it is the other approach to change that is both more difficult to achieve and more likely to result in long term benefits. This is the approach that identifies the major problem as the examination orienta- tion of those connected with education and which aeeks to substitute a different approach to schools and schooling. A framework for such a change may be found in the Turner analysis. Just as the situation appertaining in Botswana at present approximates to the sponsored mobility model with all its ramifications so an alternative ia suggested by at least a partial shift to the contest mobility model. In such a system there is more flexibility and a greater variety of channels of upward mobility. Contest mobility tends to delay the final award as long as poss- ible to permit a fair race, in contrast to the early selection of sponsored mobility. The sporting connota- tions of contest mobility are deliberately suggeative. Turner argues that just as there is special admiration for the slow starter who makes a dramatic finish so contest mobility incorporates fear of premature judgement and of anything that would give special advantage to those who are ahead at any point. Thus in place of the emphasis on certification comes an emphasis on guidance and this in turn affects both the purposes of schools and attitudes to them. It may be objected that Turner's concern in contest mobility is to provide greater equality of educa- tional opportunity in the scramble for the top places and that this is only one aspect and debateably not even the most important aspect of the educational changes required in Botswana. There can be little doubt in view of the situation described that greater equality of educational opportunity in this limited sense is desirable. However it is also suggested that the stress on flexibility, IS alternative routes, and individual guidance in the contest mobility model makes it appropriate also as a framework for a wider understanding of equality of opportunity and for the construction of an education system more suited to the majority. A first step in filling out such a model is to suggest a conceptual distinction between examination and evaluation. ExaminatioD is too readily identified with formal written test papers so that when people talk of examinations this tends to be both what is intended and what is conveyed. Evaluation however has a wider meaning, referring to the many ways one can be measured at which formal test papers is only one. To evaluate is to appraise or to determine the value of. It thus involves an estimation of worth. In this sense evaluation is a normal feature of everyday life and teaching is impossible without it. Every time a question is asked, for instance, or a response made evaluation takes place. This distinction has great significance at the .chool level. Public examinations need to be seen as just one ingredient in an evaluation process that is necessary to the activities of teaching and learning. Despite the tirm link in popular thought, notions of passing and failing are not necessary to the concept of evaluation. When I measure my height or weight it is usually to find out something about myself for my own interest. Rotions of passing or failing only enter if I a. aiming at a particular height or weight in order to achieve something else and then my interest is not in the height or weight as such but in the use to which I can put the information. There is therefore a distinction between the purposes of evaluating and the purposes to which the results of the evaluation are put. Public examinations are viewed in the pass/fail light because the Ministry of Education and employers set minimum levels tor ent~c. related to the grading obtained in the exami- nation reeults. This particular bit of the evaluation proce.s is deliberately used for prediction and selection 16 purposes but it is a distortion of the same process if all forms of evaluation in school are regarded as con- tributing to this one end and as having this single objective. There is a direct link here with the emphasis in the contest mobility model on flexibility and indivi- dual guidance. Schools have a responsibility to all their pupils and not just to the few able ORes and this requires attention to the difficulties experienced by each child and work programmes related to the ability of each. A contest mobility system makes this possible. It brings more concern for equality, more concern for keeping options open, more concern for individual differ- ences in ability, motivation and attitude. A necessary feature in this is evaluation, first because the pupil needs to know how he is getting on in order to progress further, second because the teacher requires information on which to plan learning activities. This principle obtains even with public examinations. A good teacher can learn much from his pupils' examination performance, noting special areas of difficulty and changing his future teaching in the light of it. The same is true at the national level where for example the PSLE could pro- vide a countrywide assessment of pupil attainment, pin- pointing general learning difficulties and offering guidelines for curriculum reform. But equally importan- tly, while certification systems focus outwardly to ex- ternal examinations guidance systems focus more on internal assessment and its value within the school. Yet the use of examinations for diagnostic and feedback purposes has been almost totally neglected in Botswana. A new orientation to school examinations is therefore possible. The pressure to 'pass' will no doubt remain. But success and failure in the examina- tion must not become synonymous with the success and failure of schooling. The purposes of evaluation are broader than their use in selection and the purposes of schooling are wider than those being officially tested 17 in the examination. When for example a child scores low on the English papers in the PSLE and does not attain an overall grade sufficient to allow him to proceed to secondary school, this does not mean his whole primary schooling has been a failure. Unfortunately there is a tension between selection and school objectives more ap- propriate to the majority but this is inevitable in the attempt to build a more relevant form of schooling. Uni- versal schooling is meaningless if the objectives of the schooling that is provided are directed primarily to success in a particular form of academic examination that only a few can attain. Once this is accepted many other changes become possible. When the stranglehold of the external examination is broken a strong case can be made for broa- dening the assessment procedures more in line with the range of purposes the school serves and with the parti- cular skill, piece of knowledge or attitude being asses- sed. At the primary level, as recommended by the National Education Commission, record cards can take the weight off the fSLE and also provide an indication of work done and attainment levels for those who will get no more formal schooling. The curriculum can be changed in line with Botswana's goals and needs, the role of the school clearly seen as extending beyond academic success. New methods can be encouraged, new techniques explored, new course content and combinations of studies intro- duced. Pressure can be taken off 'finishing the syllabus' and more attention paid to those who have difficulty in mastering crucial concepts which at present results in those pupils getting further and further behind. Think- ing and problem-solving can be stressed in place of memo- risation and repetition. A sense of failing can be re- placed by a sense of participating and contributing within each child's capacities, the scramble for certifi- cation itself being replaced by engagement in activities that can bring the individual some feeling of personal fulfilment and satisfaction. Ladders for improvement can be built beyond the traditional formal qualifications. 18 However for such changes to materialise a shift is needed not only in attitudes to schooling but in the whole outlook of society to opportunity and monetary rewards. Crucial will be development in the business and commercial sectors and a considerable investment in all aspects of rural development. Primary schooling will con- tinue to be seen as a matter of passing and failing if there are no other attractive alternatives to entry to secondary school. New success stories must be possible different from the bookish office-bound ones of the present. Life away from the urban centres must be seen to bring its own advances and rewards. Without this curriculum reform aimed at countering the influence of the external examination is doomed to failure. Yet in the attempt to broaden the school curriculum and also retain opportunities for academic achievement that are still necessarJ there looms perhaps an even greater danger. This is the d~nger of a two-tier sJstem developing, particularly in view of the possible introduction of a new type of day junior-secondary school, with one kind of education for the few who will eventu- ally occupy the most senior and well-paid positions in society, and a cheaper inferior kind for the rest who are also the majority. Relevance might continue to apply onl~ to the second of these and the long term conse- quences of greater opportunity for schooling under these conditions are disastrous for Botswana's development. Such is the situation facing Botswana. It is significant that the changes noted here as stemming from a partial shift to the contest mobility model and away from the exclusive acceptance of the sponsored mobility model are amongst the very recommendations made by the National Education Commission and whic~as the Commission rightly argued,are implied in Botswana's national principles. Hore attention needs to be paid to the valuee and attitudes which will determine how successfully they can be implemented. 19 FOOTNOTES lDore, R. P., The Diploma Disease. London, 1976 2Figures from National Develo ment Plan 1 6-81. Gaborone 1977. Chapter especially Table .11 3Ministry of Education COSC Summaries 4National Commission on Education: Education for Kagisano Vol. I, Gaborone 1977. p. 15 para 1.20 5Banks, 0., The Sociology of Education. London 1971, p.33 6 Clignet, R., Liberty and Equality in the Educational Process. Nev York 1974. p. 331 7Turner, R. H•• 'Modes of Social Ascent through Education' in Halsey, Floud and Anderson, Education, Economy and Society. Nev York 1961. pp. 121-139 8Ibid• p. 123 9National Commission on Education. Op cit. paras 3.13 _ 3.16 10Somerset, H. C. A., 'Who goes to Secondary School? Relevance, Reliability and Equity in Secondary School Selection' ~n Court D. and Ghai D., Education Society and Development. Nairobi 1974. p. 172 llKing, K., The African Artisan. Nairobi 1978. l2Husen T., 'Pupils, Teachers and Schools in Botsvana , in Education for Kagisano Vol. II 1.1 - 1.89 l3Somerset, H. C. A., 'Selection Examinations and Achievement in Botswana' in Education for Kagisano !2!-!! 2.1 to 2.33