Learning and schooling of Basarwa (Bushmen) children in Botswana - Pat Pridmore

Pat Pridmore (United Kingdom)

A lecturer in education and development at the University of London Institute of Education, where she is responsible for advanced diploma and masters courses in health education and promotion. She is a qualified school-teacher and nutritionist, with more than ten years' experience in higher education and in community development for health in West and East Africa. She is conducting research in health through schooling, and will complete her Ph.D. thesis on 'Children as health educators' in 1995. She has a special interest in participatory research methods and gender issues, and is married with four children.

Introduction

This paper explores the influence of culture on learning in a settlement school for Basarwa (Bushmen) children. The settlement school is located in Ghanzi District in Western Botswana where most Basarwa are Nharo or G/wi. The Nharo are indigenous to Ghanzi District but have been squatters or labourers since Boers and Batswana moved into the area at the end of the last century and set up cattle farms. The G/wi are indigenous to the Central Kalahari but, after their lands were designated an official game reserve, the government began to move them into settlements around the edge of the reserve. The Basarwa in the settlement have not yet settled into peasant farming and are still highly mobile.

Background on Botswana

Botswana is a large (582,000 square kilometres) landlocked country in southern Africa. Roughly half of its very small population (1.3 million in 1991) live in crowded urban areas with the other half living in the sparsely populated rural areas. Since independence from British rule in 1966, the economy has enjoyed one of the highest rates of growth in sub-Saharan Africa. Expansion in the area of formal schooling has been rapid and 85% of primary school-age children now attend school. However, over half of all households are living in poverty, and lack food and economic security. Droughts are frequent and malnutrition has only been reduced in recent years by extensive drought relief feeding and employment interventions.

The name Batswana (singular Motswana) is used in this paper to refer to the black Tswana and other related Bantu tribes which comprise the majority of the population of Botswana. These peoples speak the national language called Setswana. There is also a significant minority of about 30,000 Bushmen known as the Basarwa (singular Mosarwa) who are also ethnically inter-related and speak a collection of 'click' languages called Sesarwa. The official language of Botswana is English.

PROLONGED SUBJUGATION

Serious questions have recently been raised concerning Basarwa human rights. Although Basarwa are generally recognized as the indigenous peoples of Botswana, they lack legal rights to land ownership and access to water sources. The prolonged marginalization and subjugation of Basarwa is recognized as a major barrier to their development and they are becoming increasingly impoverished (Mogwe, 1992). A master/serf relationship is still reflected in the attitude of the Ghanzi cattle-owners towards Basarwa labourers and in the attitude of Basarwa to participating in their own development (Campbell, Main & Associates, 1991). However, Barnard (1992) contends that the labourers have retained much of their traditional culture because they comprise the majority population in the area.

The Botswana government refuses to acknowledge Basarwa as indigenous peoples. The government uses the name Remote Area Dwellers (RADs) to group Basarwa together with the few Batswana who share their poor economic situation and location but are culturally distinct. This has been seen as a political strategy to acculturate Basarwa and more easily assimilate them into Batswana society (Saugestad, 1993). Until recently Basarwa have been politically silent and there is a general consensus in the literature that their continued existence as a distinct cultural group will largely depend on their ability to mobilize themselves on a common platform and argue for increased self-determination (Mogalakwe, 1986, Campbell, Main & Associates, 1991; Barnard, 1992).

Within each Bushmen group the largest social unit is the band. Bands practise a type of 'primitive communism' which aims to promote the survival of the band. Bands are both open and egalitarian communities in which neither men nor women are exploited and among which members may freely migrate. Within each band, Bushmen live in family groups which are usually inter-related. Most importantly, all Bushmen groups highly value the establishment and maintenance of harmonious relationships in their social order. The politico-economic framework involves political action being taken by consensus, a system of universal kinship with social equality, individual and collective ownership of different types of property. (Barnard, 1992, p. 44)

TRADITIONAL PATTERNS OF LEARNING/ TEACHING

The Basarwa enjoy a rich cultural tradition of play and adults teach young children using traditional myths, legends, games, songs and dances. Children learn within the family unit and the playgroup by watching and doing' (Barnard, 1992; Silberbauer, 1981). The playgroup consists of children from about three to six years of age, and much of the children's play is imitation of the elders' daily activities. The knowledge, training and socialization of the child in the playgroup thereby reinforces that which is received from parents in the household. Basarwa are well known both for their tolerant attitude towards their children and for the freedom children enjoy in childhood. The egalitarian nature of Basarwa society fosters co-operation rather than competition between sexes and age groups, and children do not play team games in which an individual or group wins. High value is accorded to harmony and complementarity, and informal singing and dancing make an important contribution to their social and spiritual well-being (Marshall, 1976; Barnard, 1992).

Parental authority is kindly and reasonable (Silberbauer, 1981). Neither parent is especially dominant. Children learn to respect and obey their parents. Anything more than symbolic punishment of children for disobedience is considered to be inappropriate and unacceptable. Older siblings care for and teach younger siblings both within the family unit and playgroup. Same sex siblings enjoy a close relationship of trust and affection. Girls learn many of their roles from their mothers, and consequently spend more time with them than do boys. Brothers develop more emotional independence in the playgroup because fathers are often absent on hunting or other trips. Unlike most developing societies in which children and youths make a substantial contribution to the economy, Basarwa children are not expected to take any serious responsibility for hunting or gathering before their mid-teens.

Adults also teach children about the nature of the Basarwa universe. This universe is inhabited by a greater God, a lesser God, their wives and children (humans and other large mammals) and the spirits of the dead. The will of the greater God is paramount, and all creatures must fend for themselves within the constraints he ordained. Although the Gods are believed to direct the action of pathological agents in some cases, most illness is seen as a random occurrence in which several factors, some beyond human knowledge, combine in a particular pattern of misfortune. Because there is no notion of sorcery, it is not seen as a cause of ill health in contrast to traditional Batswana belief systems. However, medicine dances are important community rituals through which sickness is removed from the body. Basarwa are afraid of the spirits because they visit the living. There is no sense of lineage and (unlike the Batswana) they not do not identify closely with their ancestors. According to Barnard (1992) Basarwa believe that tilling the soil angers the Greater God.

DIRECTIONS OF CHANGE

Researchers have noted a gradual breakdown of traditional Basarwa social organization. Barnard (1992, p. 53) reports that amongst those who have become relatively sedentary, children travel further from their homes and adults spend less time with their children. When seasonal migration ceases, women tend to stay at home more while men are more likely to stay away from home, even if only looking after herds nearby. Mogalakwe (1986) found that Ghanzi farmers increasingly used child labour on the cattle-posts. These social changes are indicative of the gradual assimilation of Basarwa into the patriarchal Batswana society where children have domestic responsibilities starting at an earlier age.

New ideas about health are being assimilated alongside traditional belief systems as a result of interaction with Western medicine provided by government health posts. The use of these services are low, and Basarwa complain that health staff cannot speak Sesarwa and do not treat them respectfully (Mogwe, 1992). Traditional herbal medicines are preferred but are in short supply because roots and herbs cannot be collected away from their traditional lands. It is also illegal to practice traditional healing in Botswana without being officially certified. Few Basarwa possess these certificates. Excessive alcohol intake is a recognized health problem which, according to Mogwe (1992, p. 35), has its roots in poverty and marginalization.

The growth of an 'indigenous' movement within Botswana is beginning to impact on the direction of social and political change by increasing the capacity of the Basarwa for self-determination. Saugestad (1993, p. 41) makes the compelling argument that once indigenous organizations have been established and their leaders are able to negotiate with the government, far from threatening national unity and political stability, these organizations will contribute to the democratic process and actually make policy formulation and implementation easier.

Learning through schooling also has contributed to the acculturation of Basarwa. The government introduced free primary and secondary education in 1988, and while there are now primary day schools in some of the Ghanzi settlements there are no boarding facilities. Parents have difficulty feeding and caring for their children at the settlement schools because the land is not able to support the size of the resident population unless they make the unwelcome transition to subsistence farming. Parents therefore rely on being mobile in order to subsist. Lee (1984) found parents feared their children might be beaten or neglected if left with relatives. Although government transport returns children back to their homes for the school vacations, Basarwa children still lack effective access to schooling. This is reflected in low recruitment rates and high drop-out rates in settlement schools. Few Basarwa children reach secondary school.

Lack of parental trust in schooling is a major barrier to enrolment. Parents believe schooling is breaking down their social traditions. They also complain of insufficient money to buy the obligatory school uniforms and soap for washing them, lack of accommodation at schools, and transport difficulties between home and school (Campbell, Main & Associates, 1991; Mogalakwe, 1986). Parents fear the occurrence of teenage pregnancies at the schools and believe Batswana men take advantage of their daughters because they do not respect Basarwa people. Children also drop out of school because corporal punishment is frequently used for reasons which they deem to be unjustified, such as for not knowing Setswana. Basarwa children are greatly disadvantaged because the language of instruction in schools is Setswana and young children do not know this language (Mogwe, 1992).

A field study of learning for health

The Alma-Ata Health Declaration (World Health Organization, 1978) was the milestone in health development thinking. It accorded a heavy responsibility to health education as the 'key' to implementing primary health care. Ten years on, a major review concluded that progress towards the goal of 'Health for all' had been slow, and that efforts had been hindered by the lack of health educators who knew how to work together with families and communities to improve health (WHO, 1988). The approach to health education known as Child-to-Child advocates involving children as health educators in promoting (as well as receiving) health education. Child-to-Child rests on three basic assumptions: (i) that primary education becomes more effective if it is linked to things that matter both to children and to their families and communities; (ii) that education in school and out of school should be linked as closely as possible; (iii) that children have the will, the skill and the motivation to help each other and can be trusted to do so (Hawes & Page, 1988).

It has been recognized however, that existing evaluation data on programmes using the Child-to-Child approach need to be strengthened to provide evidence of its effectiveness and increase understanding of the complex processes which underpin successful implementation (Child-to-Child Trust, 1994). School-based studies are especially needed as the primary school is currently accorded a key role in development as the arena in which health and education can meet and strive together to achieve their inseparable goals of 'Health for all' and 'Education for all'. In the absence of any other data on which to evaluate the effectiveness of children as health educators within the Child-to-Child 'Little Teacher' Programme in Botswana, a field study was conducted between March 1992 and September 1993. The field study also aimed to increase understanding of Child-to-Child Programmes by exploring the processes by which children are changing their behaviour and the process by which education affects both the children and their families. Cultural issues are central to the study as they impact on the beliefs and attitudes which inform learning for health.

The settlement school involved in the study was situated in Ghanzi District, western Botswana, where about forty mud or block houses, a shop and a health facility were clustered together in the otherwise featureless semi-desert. A borehole provided water but there was no electricity. All the school teachers who had been deployed by the Ministry of Education were Batswana, and for those unaccompanied by their families, the hardship of separation was compounded by isolation and poor infrastructure. The social and economic disparity between Basarwa and Batswana was observed clearly in the different standards of clothing and housing between children and teachers. The school teachers lived in block-built bungalows and the Basarwa in mud 'rondavels'.

At the time of the study in 1992, ninety-one children were registered in the school. There were also twelve pre-school children attending for the Child-to-Child 'Little Teacher' Programme. The deputy head confirmed that the school population was highly mobile, especially since the government's drought relief feeding programme had finished. Some school children lived with their parents in the settlement but many were staying with relatives during term time and using the government transport to travel between school and home for the vacations.

A wall chart in the head teacher's office displayed a separate record of RAD children. As only fifteen children in the school were not RADs and all of these had parents teaching in the school or working in the health facility, this public record seemed unnecessarily divisive. The wall chart also revealed a dramatic reduction in enrolment for the higher standards, especially for boys. This indicated that girls were achieving greater access to the benefits of schooling than boys, and endorsed the findings of other researchers that women are grasping educational opportunities more than men (Campbell, Main & Associates, 1991). This has important implications for the survival of the Basarwa as there is much evidence to show infant mortality rates are closely related to maternal education. However, women may find it more difficult than men to enter the political arena and negotiate for the rights of their people to greater self-determination within the strongly patriarchal Batswana society.

THE INTERVENTION

The field study in the settlement school was an extension of a research programme in rural schools for Batswana children (Pridmore, 1996). The broader research programme involved implementing and evaluating a controlled experiment to assess the effectiveness of primary school children in the transfer of health messages to pre-school children within the established Child-to-Child 'Little Teacher' Programme in the schools. It also aimed to identify factors which enabled or inhibited the effectiveness of children as health educators. By extending the study to include the settlement school it was possible to explore the influence of culture on the ability of the school children to communicate the health messages.

The school-teacher responsible for the 'Little Teacher' Programme in the settlement school introduced four new health topics into the curriculum for primary school children. She then supervised them whilst they passed on these messages to the pre-school children using active teaching methods. The pre-school children were tested before and after the intervention to assess learning and the primary school children were tested before and after they taught the pre-school children to assess how much they learned from performing their role as 'Little Teachers'. The teaching and testing were conducted in the official medium of instruction, Setswana. None of the teachers could speak Sesarwa.

The knowledge test data were very difficult to interpret, and we must bear in mind that there were language, cultural and social barriers between the children and their teachers. In this context neither primary school children nor pre-school children were able to learn the health messages taught during the intervention. In contrast both primary school children and pre-school children in the rural Batswana schools involved in the broader research study significantly improved their learning of the health messages. These findings confirm that children learn better when they share the same language, culture and social situation with their teachers.

CHILDREN'S DRAWING AND WRITING

An innovative method known as the 'draw and write technique' was used in the study to explore the children's beliefs about health. Pictorial data were collected from the eleven primary school children in the settlement school who were involved in the study and were between the ages of nine and ten. In the main study, pictorial data were also collected from 100 Batswana children aged nine to ten. First, children were asked to think about all the things they did or could do to make and keep themselves healthy. They were cautioned not to tell anyone else what they were thinking and then asked to draw as many of these things as they could on one side of a sheet of paper and to write what was happening in each of the pictures. Next, they were asked to think about all the things they did or could do to make themselves unhealthy, and to draw and write about them as before. Finally, they were asked to draw and write about the things that happened which made most people die. The school cook was able to translate these simple instructions into Sesarwa. Each response consisted of a picture and a written comment. These were analysed together to identify major categories and sub-categories before individual responses were classified.

What makes you healthy?

The responses of the eleven Basarwa children fell into four categories - food, exercise, medicine and hygiene. By contrast the responses of one hundred Batswana children fell into only one - food. This may reflect a broader system of beliefs about the causation of health and disease among Basarwa children. Five Basarwa children drew pictures of themselves involved in exercise whereas none of the Batswana children depicted exercise. Surprisingly, none of the children recorded sleeping, resting or keeping safe as causes of health (Table 1, Figure 1).

TABLE 1: Basarwa children's beliefs about what makes and keeps them healthy (n = 11)

FIGURE 1: Children's beliefs about what makes them healthy.

What makes you unhealthy?

The majority of children (seven out of eleven) identified the unhealthy habits of drinking and smoking although fighting and accidents were also represented. Only one child identified disease and one child drew herself 'being hungry' (Table 2, Figure 2). In contrast, most of the Batswana children drew sugar and sweets. Children drew fewer pictures in response to this question than to the other two questions. This may have been because children found it more difficult to understand what was meant by being unhealthy.

TABLE 2: Basarwa children's beliefs about what makes them unhealthy (n = 11)

What do most people die from?

Four categories were identified; violence, accidents, wild animals and suicide. No diseases were recorded, which was puzzling as there was a high incidence of infectious childhood disease in the area. This may be caused by children remembering the more violent causes of death more than the common place, or because disease was seen as only one of many factors which ultimately resulted in death within their own understanding of the universe (Table 3, Figure 3). The same four categories were identified in the pictures from Batswana children but there were also many pictures of diseases and sorcery (witches and spirits).

TABLE 3: Bushmen children's beliefs about what most people die from.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PLAY

Children were observed playing in the school compound for two or three hours at a time without adult supervision. They did not become bored or disruptive and their play was creative and harmonious. Boys often played football with a compressed paper ball. They did not play in teams and there was no goal. Girls liked to stand or sit in a circle and to try to hit a girl in the centre of the circle with a paper ball before she could fill up a glass bottle with sand. To avoid being hit by the ball the girl in the centre leapt around with incredible agility. Children were also observed practising traditional Basarwa dances accompanied by clapping and singing. The dances were dramatic, required great agility and precision and included many of the patterns described by Marshall (1976, p. 313-62). The children were going to perform these dances at a cultural gathering in the district. This endorsed the notion of a cultural renewal in Botswana and indicated positive change to preserve Basarwa culture.

FIGURE 2: Children's beliefs about what makes them unhealthy.

FIGURE 3: Children's beliefs about what most people die from.

Discussion

THE NEED FOR A NEW EDUCATIONAL MODEL

The experience gained in the settlement school highlighted the way in which Basarwa children were multiply disadvantaged. The failure of the education system to take account of the linguistic, cultural, social and economic barriers to learning for Basarwa children underpinned low enrolment rates and high drop-out rates. These findings argue for a more relevant bilingual, multicultural model of schooling.

The most important finding was that young Basarwa children were educationally compromised because they did not speak Setswana, the language of instruction in the school. The language barrier was exacerbated by a Western model of education relying on language as the main vehicle for learning, and was a major cause of the Child-to-Child intervention programme failing to result in any measurable increase in learning. This corroborates the findings of other researchers (Mogwe, 1992; Kann, 1989), and raises serious questions about government's insistence on Setswana as the only medium of instruction, especially when Sesarwa speaking school teachers are not available to facilitate communication. It also highlights the importance of translation at all levels. Government policy is increasing inequality by undermining the effectiveness of schooling.

Social and cultural barriers to learning were also highlighted. Children cannot learn well if they are cold, hungry and inadequately cared for, or if what they are taught bears little resemblance to their own world view. Although everyone in the settlement experienced some hardship, the teachers and other Batswana in the settlement had access to better clothing, housing and transport than Basarwa. The cultural gap between school teachers and children prevented the teachers from playing their central role as a 'cultural bridge' to facilitate learning. It is significant that government policy does not acknowledge the distinct culture of Basarwa children at a time when educationalists are increasingly aware that what matters most in the learning situation is the relationship between the culture of the learner (or group of learners) and of the teacher (or the school). A lively debate within the Botswana Ministry of Education on ways of achieving 'Learning for all' has failed to address the central issue of whose culture is being transmitted. This failure endorses the Basarwa's own view that the government is using the education system to acculturate their children, and corroborates the findings of other researchers (Campbell, Main & Associates, 1991; Lee, 1984; Mogwe, 1992).

The traditional Western model of education in the school emphasized the importance of what was taught, rather than who was doing the teaching in situations where the content and language of delivery were largely unfamiliar to the learners. Learning was rule-oriented and unidirectional, competition was encouraged and learning outcomes were judged by examination results. This contrasted sharply with the traditional Basarwa model of learning/teaching where childhood learning in the family unit or playgroup was informal, non-competitive, task orientated and relatively free of rules. Children learned through experience and experimentation, or directly from elders. To increase the effectiveness of the curriculum, educators at all levels would need to be open and willing to gain an intimate knowledge of Basarwa culture and be able to use this knowledge to increase relevance and learning. This points to the immediate need to recruit and train Basarwa teachers.

The experience confirmed that schooling is essentially a process of acculturation, a fact which is well recognized by educationalists. Ideas and models of education imposed by those outside the culture of the child can prejudice the culture which the child brings into the learning situation. It may therefore be suggested that the Botswana Ministry of Education is deliberately promoting the destruction of the cultural tradition and way of life of the Basarwa by encouraging their children to enter the formal 'Western' education system.

To be effective, health education must be informed by a sound understanding of traditional belief systems, because conflict between the children's own health beliefs and Western 'biomedical' conceptualizations of health can cause new ideas to be rejected. The draw-and-write technique proved to be a powerful method for exploring children's beliefs about health and data, and confirmed that Basarwa children had retained a unique world view which differed from that of Batswana children. The data showed that new ideas about disease have not yet been assimilated fully into traditional belief systems.

The pictures of non-competitive games, dancing and singing reflected the high value given by Basarwa to harmonious relationships and to the medicine dance which promotes psychological health and well-being. The pictures also endorsed the findings of other researchers that the Basarwa (unlike the Batswana) have no notion of sorcery and avoid making reference to the spirits of the dead (Barnard, 1992). Basarwa children are beginning to adapt their knowledge systems as a result of interaction with the dominant Batswana culture. For example, the pictures showed they were aware that alcohol and smoking were a health problem in their community. The frequent depictions of violent death may indicate that Basarwa children are shocked by what they see as alien to their own culture or may be indicative of social change and the gradual breakdown of traditional social organization.

THE NEED FOR EDUCATIONAL POLICY CHANGE

The present government policy is to develop Botswana as one united state of Batswana peoples. This does not recognize the unique culture of the Basarwa who want to simultaneously be part of the nation state and to maintain and develop their own culture. Their cause has recently been taken up by those outside their own culture who have encouraged them to form indigenous organizations, and take leadership roles so that their political voice can be heard against the process of acculturation. This paper supports the case for educational policy change on the grounds that current policy amounts to unofficial racial discrimination against the Basarwa and that recognition of their distinct culture could be viewed as an enhancement of cultural diversity and the cultural heritage of Botswana. This argument may be particularly effective in the current climate of cultural renewal in the country. There are signs that the Batswana are beginning to realize not only the need to preserve and promote their own culture, but also to recognize the rich contribution which Basarwa people have to offer.

A NEW EDUCATIONAL MODEL

The experience in the settlement school has serious implications for the provision of schooling for Basarwa children, and is suggestive of a new educational model to overcome the barriers to access and to learning. This model needs to seek a balance and consensus between Basarwa, Batswana and Western learning styles to enable Basarwa children to move into the wider society without sacrificing their own cultural identity. This would involve using more relevant, 'indigenous' pedagogy (in which watching and doing are the main vehicles for learning), adapting the present content so that it draws from experiences which are largely familiar and which emphasize the culture of family and community.

There are also implications for teacher training. Traditional teacher training tends to select young people and take them away from their communities for training. This runs the risk of alienating them culturally and encouraging them to devalue their own culture. It may be more appropriate to select older Basarwa men and women who already provide a relevant informal pedagogy to children in the playgroup and train them within their community. This strategy has been used successfully in primary health care programmes to train traditional birth attendants as community health workers.

The experience in the settlement school highlighted problems with the Child-to-Child 'Little Teacher' Programme. There is, however, considerable potential in the approach for promoting the learning of Basarwa children if it is adapted in a manner that is sensitive to their particular context. Child-to-Child advocates the use of active learning methods (song, dance, games, stories). These are part of traditional Basarwa pedagogy, and could be used to increase relevance and reaffirm their own knowledge systems and social organization. Child-to-Child could help children to think critically about their health problems. Child-to-Child has been shown to improve children's self-image and self-esteem, to develop leadership skills and to enable children to have a voice within their family and community. Older children could help younger siblings to learn Setswana and so ease their entry into government schools. Basarwa children would be in a good position to pass on health messages to their families and communities because of the egalitarian nature of their society. Child-to-Child could be used to build a bridge between home and school, and children and parent/guardians could become empowered, through consultation, to develop a new model of education.

Since the time of the field study in 1992 a more relevant model of pre-school education has been piloted in the settlement by an indigenous organization called 'Kuru'. The teacher is a Mosarwa member from the settlement and the aim is to teach elementary Setswana. The future is uncertain as the pre-school lacks government funding, children are still highly mobile and the settlement development committee does not yet have the capacity to mobilize the community to manage the school without external support.

This paper has illustrated the way in which learning and schooling are both value- and politically-loaded. The Basarwa are faced with a real dilemma. They want to maintain their traditional way of life and collective identity and have good reason to be suspicious of the impact of Government schooling on their lives. Nevertheless, they recognize that the ability to read and write and to speak for themselves in Setswana is potentially empowering and could enable their children to become protagonists in defence of their own rights. As Lee (1984, p. 142) has observed, 'the ability to read and write has become an even more important skill than hunting and gathering in the struggle for survival.' The government is creating laws which infringe on their lives. Without education to enable them to interpret these laws and make appropriate responses, their future is bleak and they will continue to be assimilated into the bottom socio-economic level of the Batswana nation.

The school system is a barrier to the cultural development of Basarwa children because it does not provide a forum for Basarwa and Batswana cultures to meet on equal terms. The school is viewed an instrument of the state supplanting the traditional role of the band in educating its children which is underscored by lack of consultation between school and community over the curriculum. To promote the educational development of Basarwa children consultation needs to be an intercultural educational process of exchange between school and community which allows some selection of curriculum content and the type of teaching most suited for the children. True consultation must acknowledge the need to preserve the language and culture of the children and many writers have stressed that the curriculum must reflect an intimate understanding of the values and perceptions of the recipients if it is to be seen to be relevant to the learners (Aikman, 1994; Leach, 1994; Carr-Hill, 1994).

It is to be hoped that Basarwa will eventually gain a political voice and negotiate a more self-determined model of education. The continued growth of the indigenous movement and the use of innovative educational approaches like Child-to-Child can play an important role. Ultimately, however, the development of the indigenous movement will revolve around the issue of whose culture matters and whose pedagogy matters. This is a political debate and the Basarwa will need to develop the ability to speak with one voice and make that voice heard.

Conclusion

This article highlights the inadequacy of the current model of schooling delivered to Basarwa children in Botswana, and contends that their education should be re-evaluated from a cultural viewpoint. Children and teachers are enmeshed in a dynamic, cultural, social and political web, and there are serious language and cultural barriers to learning. These barriers underscore the need for a bilingual, multicultural model of education to affirm and strengthen the culture of the child. The high mobility of the Basarwa demands a flexible, less formal model of schooling and training of teachers from within the Basarwa culture. An innovative curriculum is needed, building on traditional Basarwa pedagogy and world view to develop skills needed to gain greater equity. The approach to health education known as Child-to-Child has considerable potential for curriculum development. Until a more relevant educational model is available Basarwa children will continue to be disadvantaged.

References

Aikman, S. 1994. School curriculum as a forum for articulating intercultural relations with particular reference to the Peruvian Amazon. In: Thomas, E., ed. International perspectives on schooling: a symposium proceeding, p. 197-218. London, Department of International and Comparative Education, University of London. 500 p.

Barnard, A. 1992. Hunters and herders of Southern Africa. Cambridge, U.K., Cambridge University Press.

Campbell, Main and Associates. 1991. Western Sandveld remote area dwellers. Gaborone. 95 p. (Unpublished report commissioned by the Botswana Ministry of Local Government and Lands, and the Norwegian Agency for International Development in Gaborone.)

Carr-Hill, R. 1994. Cultural conditionality on aid to basic education. In: Thomas, E., ed. International perspectives on culture and schooling, p. 76-97, op. cit.

Child-to-Child Trust. 1994. Report of the Child-to-Child Research Meeting, 6-8 May, 1994 held at the Isle of Thorns Training Centre. London, Child-to-Child Trust; University of London, Institute of Education.

Hawes, H.; Page, G., eds. 1988. Child-to-Child: another path to learning. Hamburg, UNESCO Institute for Education. 128 p. (UIE monograph, 13.)

Kann, U. 1989. Achieving universal basic education in Botswana - the barriers, and some suggestions for overcoming them. Gaborone, National Institute of Development Research and Documentation, University of Botswana.

Leach, F. 1994. Expatriates as agents of cross-cultural transmission. In: Thomas, E., ed. International perspectives on culture and schooling, p. 371-91, op. cit.

Lee, R.B. 1984. The Dobe !Kung. Orlando, FL, Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich. 173 p. (Case studies in cultural anthropology.)

Marshall, E. 1976. The !Kung of Nyae Nyae. London, Harvard University Press.

Mogalakwe, M. 1986. Inside Ghanzi freehold farms: a look at the conditions of farm workers. Gaborone, Ministry of Local Government and Lands, Applied Research Unit.

Mogwe, A. 1992. Who was (t)here first? An assessment of the human rights situation of Basarwa in selected communities in the Ghanzi District, Botswana. Gaborone, Botswana Christian Council. (Occasional paper, no. 10.)

Pridmore, P. 1996. Children as health educators using the Child-to-Child approach. (Ph.D. thesis. University of London Institute of Education.)

Saugestad, S. 1993. Botswana: the inconvenient indigenous peoples. IGWIA newsletter (Copenhagen), no. 2. (International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs Fiolstraede 10, DK - 11711 Copenhagen K, Denmark.)

Silberbauer, G.B. 1981. Hunter and habitat in the central Kalahari Desert. Cambridge, U.K., Cambridge University Press.

World Health Organization. 1978. Alma-Ata Health Declaration. Geneva, WHO.

World Health Organization. 1988. From Alma-Ata to the year 2000: reflections at the midpoint. Geneva, WHO. 158 p.