The study investigates knowledge management (KM) practices in the public sector in Botswana. The underlying premise is that good KM leads to efficiency and effectiveness. The study assesses the KM practices in the government departments by means of a questionnaire survey of senior managers. The assumption is that the corporate manager/directors will know what knowledge is there, how knowledge is created, shared and flow in the organization. The main question of this study is whether the Botswana public sector is practicing KM. The study explores the problem and questions by means of a questionnaire survey amongst 43 departmental directors of the Government of Botswana. The overall finding is that information management rather than KM is being practiced. The respondents, senior public service managers, certainly recognize the value of and the need for KM. But, they themselves identify certain weaknesses, such as lack of knowledge of KM among their staff, weak communication inside and across the departments, lack of policy and lack of good KM systems.

<p>The study investigates knowledge management (KM) practices in the public sector in Botswana. The underlying premise is that good KM leads to efficiency and effectiveness. The study assesses the KM practices in the government departments by means of a questionnaire survey of senior managers. The assumption is that the corporate manager/directors will know what knowledge is there, how knowledge is created, shared and flow in the organization. The main question of this study is whether the Botswana public sector is practicing KM. Related questions are:&nbsp / What are the views of public service managers/ directors on the benefits that can be reaped from KM practices?&nbsp / What evidence is there that the public service has a culture of sharing information and knowledge? And how are staff members encouraged to internalize and use new knowledge? How are creativity and new ideas encouraged?&nbsp / Are there appropriate technological resources to facilitate effective KM, for example central knowledge repositories and social networking?The study explores the problem and questions by means of a questionnaire survey amongst 43 departmental directors of the Government of Botswana. The overall finding is that information management rather than KM is being practiced. The respondents, senior public service managers, certainly recognize the value of and the need for KM. But, they themselves identify certain weaknesses, such as lack of knowledge of KM among their staff, weak communication inside and across the departments, lack of policy and lack of good KM systems.<br /> .</p>

Thesis (MPhil--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The incidence of HIV/AIDS in Botswana is one of the largest in the world taking its toll on many lives and posing developmental challenges to the nation. Nearly 25% of the population is living with HIV and 14% are newly infected; AIDS is acknowledged as the major cause of death. Most HIV and AIDS studies have been dominated by surveillance, biomedical and ethical methodologies. These approaches failed to stem the tide of HIV infection because they did not follow-up with the tracking of risky behaviours and the underlying causes of the behaviours. This research scrutinized socio-economic factors in relation to the spread of the epidemic. Available literature showed that little or no attention has been paid to the socio-economic backgrounds in which individuals exist in connection with understanding HIV and AIDS. This study used an economic model of risky sexual behaviour to explore the link between socio-economic status and the practice of HIV self-protective/preventive behaviours in Maruapula, Gaborone, Botswana. The research is vital as it goes beyond surveillance in an effort to establish why the community of the study is susceptible to HIV infection. This research l used both collected data and that from BAIS II. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die navorsing is oor die verhouding tussen sosio-ekonomiese status en die praktyk van MIV self-protective/preventive gedrag binne Maruapula distrik. Die doel van die studie is om vas te stel of daar 'n verband tussen sosio-ekonomiese status en die praktyk van MIV-voorkomende gedrag onder die inwoners, van Maruapula, Gaborone, Botswana. Data is ingesamel deur die gebruik van vraelyste en die ontleding van die statistiek het getoon dat die is geen verwantskap tussen sosio-ekonomiese status en die praktyk van MIV self-protective/preventive gedrag onder die inwoners. Aanbevelings gebaseer op die bevindinge is gemaak met betrekking tot MIV-voorkoming in die woongebied in die besonder en in die land in die algemeen.

Research findings have shown that online learning has the potential to improve the quality of learning if it is designed effectively to embrace interactive, collaborative knowledge building among learners. Online learning has the capacity to facilitate efficient and enjoyable learning through skills acquisition in a context specific environment especially in Southern Africa but there are a number of challenges that designers of online learning need to factor in to the design of this pedagogy. This study explores how learner - learner; learner - course facilitator and learner - content interactions influenced and shaped learners' online learning experiences particularly satisfaction with a course facilitated from the University of Botswana for participants within the SADC region. These three forms of interactions were further explored through using 6 online learning evaluation dimensions to provide a guide to the analysis. The study employed a range of data collection methods that provided rich qualitative data including: Life world accounts, discussion forum entries, online surveys, expert reviews, and learners' grades. The findings suggest that the learners' level of interaction at the levels of the 6 dimensions could have influenced what they perceived to be valuable, effective and satisfactory. Other influencing variables were course design and community of learning presence. The findings also reveal that although the participants found the course to be very valuable to them, there were areas that could improve the learning experiences. Further longitudinal research and investigation into alternative technologies is also recommended. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

Newly qualified educators in Botswana face many challenges not least of which occurs when they are posted to rural schools a distance from other teachers and information resources. The Government of Botswana has committed itself to enhancing the ICT infrastructure for use in both the economic and educational endeavours of the country. Research conducted in first world countries show that Communities of Practice can take place in a virtual environment and that these can facilitate knowledge sharing and management. This research was conducted to investigate if a Virtual Community of Practice (VCoP), guided by the educational theories of Constructivism and Connectivism, could facilitate information and knowledge sharing among art teachers in dispersed location in the Botswana context. Using Reeves and Hedberg’s (2003) Development Research model, 13 art teachers, who were located in different parts of the country, participated in knowledge sharing through a Virtual Community of Practice. This study analysed the specific needs of art educators, interrogated the literature for best practices, formed a VCoP, and analysed how participants used it and reports on their comments The research findings indicate that educators would be enthusiastic about the use of such a facility if there was a perceivable benefit especially in breaking down the geographical induced communication barriers that they face at the moment. The research does not propose the replacement of existing face-to-face workshops, meetings and other communication fora, but rather suggests a VCoP can complement them by allowing discussions to continue beyond such meetings. It is contended that a carefully structured and supported VCoP can improve information and knowledge sharing significantly among educators and other stakeholders in Botswana. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

This study aimed to intervene in the challenges emanating from the launch of a new primary schools Arts syllabus which is geared towards reflecting Batswana cultural values in Botswana primary schools. The launch was hurried, before all necessary provisions were made (Phuthego, 2007). Consequently, there is dire need of relevant resource materials, teaching/learning activities and qualified teachers, who can effectively translate the syllabus objectives and aims. The aim of this study was hence to devise learning activities based on Tswana children’s songs as the selected materials to realize the objectives of the existing primary school music syllabus for Botswana primary schools lower standards. This has been done through analysis of Tswana children’s songs, studying their nature and inherent values, on the basis of which culturally relevant teaching and learning activities have been designed for use in Botswana primary school music curriculum. In order to validate the need for a consideration of culturally relevant teaching and learning activities in Botswana primary schools, the study explored the music of the Batswana prior to and during colonialism and how it manifests itself in the current curriculum delivery. The study has also considered the current education policy’s aspirations of instilling cultural values in learners, as well as grooming a rounded citizen who can adjust to the challenges of the 21st century corporate world. The study employed content analysis through which twenty-four children’s songs were studied for their inherent values and musical concepts. Eclectic learning activities which take cognizance of the holistic approach prevalent in Tswana music making milieu, combined with the Rhythm Interval Approach (Akuno, 2005) which advocates the use of temporal and tonal elements of sound as the basic ingredients from which other musical elements such as form, texture, timbre harmony and dynamics are derived were employed. The activities were then tested in standards 1 to 4 to address the music syllabus. The results showed that the songs completely address the objectives stipulated in the syllabus and moreover, provide some extra-musical concepts which are embedded within them. The results also revealed that the Rhythm Interval Approach is applicable in Botswana lower primary schools, hence implicitly suggesting its further possible applicability to upper primary classes because the syllabus has been designed in a spiral fashion, where the same musical concept like ‘sound’ appears at different levels of intensity across all classes. The study recommended that The Revised National Policy on Education’s aim of grooming a locally and internationally compatible learner can be enhanced through learners’ awareness and appreciation of their culture on the basis of which they can later on spread their wings, to other world cultures. Tswana children’s songs have been observed to have a potential to act as a bridge to ease the transition of cultural pedagogy of rote learning to current paradigm of symbolic representation and abstraction of concepts. The study devised twenty learning activities to facilitate the use of these songs for curriculum delivery in standard 1-4. / Thesis (M.Mus.)-University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban, 2009.

The study was aimed at investigating the effects of single parenthood on school going adolescents on a group of male and female children schooling in Gaborone District of Botswana. The research questions focused on investigating the effects of. single parenthood on the social interactions of school-going adolescents, effects on their performance in class, the attitude of the community on such adolescents and whether single parenthood affected boys and girls differently. To start the investigation, a sample of 80 adolescents was randomly selected from a total of 2 000 form 4 and form 5 students. The findings revealed that the majority (91.3%) of school-going adolescents from single parenthood stay with their mothers. The survey findings also revealed that school-going adolescents from single parenthood do not get along with their single parent, single parents are not always around to attend to the needs of their children and they are not always happy at home. The survey findings showed that there are poor child-parent relationships and this adversely affects the children's performance at school. The study revealed that the majority of adolescents from single-parent households have fallen behind in some of their subjects (77.5%), have problems getting their homework done on time (46.3%) , have unsatisfactory school reports and they have failed some the subjects they are doing (78.8%). / (M. Ed.) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2005

The study is concerned with the education system of Botswana after independence. This period starts from the 30th September 1966, when Botswana became independent up to the present moment. Since then the education system has undergone many changes. Consequently the focus is on the nature and impact of these changes. The study identifies changes which took place with regard to the Education System of Botswana since independence as far as meeting the minimum requirements of education of developing countries are concerned. The minimum requirements that the education systems of developing countries, must meet are discussed according to the four central components of the education systems, viz. the education system policy, education system administration, structure for teaching and support services. After introducing the problem statement and background in the introductory chapter, the minimum requirements of education systems in developing countries are discussed in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 then deals with a historical perspective on the education system of Botswana before independence, concentrating on the different historical periods associated with educational development up to independence day. The study then discusses the determinants of the education system of Botswana after independence in Chapter 4, focussing on the particular factors influencing the Botswana education system. Finally, Chapter 5 evaluates the level to which the education system policy and education system administration of the education system of Botswana meet the minimum requirements of the education systems of developing countries, while Chapter 6 evaluates the level to which the structure for teaching and support services meet the minimum requirements of the education systems of developing countries. In general, the evaluation indicates that the education system of Botswana has undergone many positive changes and that the Botswana education system compares favourably with the minimum requirements expected of the education systems of developing countries. / Skripsie (MEd (Vergelykende Opvoedkunde))--PU vir CHO, 1997

<p>This paper tested the purchasing power parity hypothesis for Botswana and South Africa using cointegration analysis. The data used are the spot exchange rate between the two countries (rand and pula) and their consumer price indices.</p>

<p>Botswana's population and water demand are growing at a high rate particularly in the dry south eastern part of the country. In 1999, a Water Conservation Policy and Strategy framework document was formulated to guide a transition from a supply driven water management approach to water demand management. This study investigated whether there was a disparity between the framework policy and strategy recommendations and their actual implementation.</p>