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Uganda vs Botswana: Who Has The Advantage In Education?

The Uganda Cranes secured victory over Botswana in a football contest for the 2017 African Cup of Nations Qualification.

Victory in Gaborone brought Uganda a step closer to qualification for the premier football competition in Africa, for the first time in 39 years. Both nations have not had much luck at the tournament, with Uganda’s best performance coming in 1978 where they succumbed to Ghana in the final. Botswana on the other hand have only managed to qualify for the continental showpiece once in 57 years.

Uganda offers free education at primary and secondary level through the Universal Primary Education and the Universal Secondary Education programs respectively while Education in Botswana is free for the first 10 years of a child’s education, thus covering both Primary and Junior Secondary.

From an education perspective, we shall look at the school and learning systems from both countries.

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Education System Summary

Uganda follows the 7-4-2-3 compared to Botswana’s 7-3-2-3. After Pre-Primary, children in Uganda study for 7 years in Primary, 6 years in secondary and a minimum of 3 years of tertiary education. The national examinations at every level, administered by the Uganda National Examinations Board, are Primary Leaving Examinations, Uganda Certificate of Education (for O’ Level secondary) and Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (for A’ Level secondary).

In Botswana, from pre-Primary children study for 7 years in Primary, 3 years in Junior Secondary, 2 years in Senior Secondary and a minimum of 3 years of Tertiary education. The respective national exams administered at the different stages are the Primary School Leaving Examinations, the Junior Certificate Examination and the Botswana General certificate of Secondary Examination.

Uganda offers free education at primary and secondary level through the Universal Primary Education and the Universal Secondary Education programmes respectively. On the other hand, education in Botswana is free for the first 10 years of a child’s education, thus covering both Primary and Junior Secondary. However, payment of fees in state-owned schools was reintroduced in 2006.

Early Childhood

Uganda has 4,956 early childhood learning (ECD) centres in the country. 433,258 pupils are enrolled with 50.4% females. A great number of these ECD centres are located around Kampala and the Central region.

Primary Education

There are 18,408 primary schools in Uganda, with 66.5% under the ownership of the government. A total of 8,772,655 pupils are enrolled in primary schools all over the country. Mengo Primary School was the first primary school established in the country in 1895, followed closely by Makerere Church of Uganda Primary School (1903), St. Joseph Nsambya Girls’ Primary School (1904) and Budo Junior School (1905).

A significant distinction for Botswana is the fact that at Primary level, lessons in all subjects are administered in Tsetswana for the first four years. Although not the official language, Tsetswana is spoken by close to 80% of the population. The pupil to teacher ratio is 13 to 1, compared to 45 to 1 in Uganda.

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Secondary Education

Progression to secondary school in Uganda is contingent upon a pupil passing the Primary Leaving Examination in Uganda, although in Botswana entry can be guaranteed without sitting the PSLE.

In Uganda Secondary education is comprised of four years of Ordinary Level, at the end of which students sit for UCE, and two years of Advanced Level at the end of which students sit for UACE.

Secondary education in Botswana begins with middle school covering three years and culminating in the JCE. This level marks the end of compulsory education and students can choose to either apply for work, pursue vocational studies or study for two more years and sit the BGCSE. The teacher to student ratio is at 24 to 1, compared to 21 to 1 in Uganda.

The oldest secondary schools in Uganda include Mengo SS (1903), Namilyango College (1902), Gayaza High School (1903) and King’s College Budo (1905). In Botswana the oldest secondary school is John Mackenzie School (1899) followed by St. Joseph’s College, Kgale (1928).

Tertiary Education

Of the 189 tertiary institutions in the country, 115 (72%) are privately owned. The government runs six public universities i.e. Makerere University, MUBS, Kyambogo University, Gulu University, Mbarara university of Science & Technology, and Busitema University. The government has plans to establish universities in Soroti and Muni. Privately owned universities amount to 26. Other tertiary institutions include agricultural colleges, teachers colleges and colleges of commerce.

Founded in 1964, the University of Botswana is the main tertiary institution in the country. Other tertiary institutions include the Botswana International University of Science and Technology, Botswana College of Agriculture and Botswana Accountancy College.

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