Early Childhood Care and Education in Botswana: Implications for Access and Quality

Autor/inn/en	Pillar, Lebogang J.; Haricharan, Shanil J.
Titel	Early Childhood Care and Education in Botswana: Implications for Access and Quality
Quelle	In: South African Journal of Childhood Education, 13 (2023) 1, Artikel 1268 (14 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Pillar, Lebogang J.) ORCID (Haricharan, Shanil J.)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	2223-7674
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Early Childhood Education; Child Care; Access to Education; Educational Quality; Teacher Attitudes; Administrator Attitudes; Barriers; Educational Resources; Program Implementation; Educational Policy; Public Schools; Inclusion; Teacher Education; Student Evaluation; Educational Facilities; Botswana + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Early childhood; Education; Frühkindliche Bildung; Frühpädagogik; Kinderfürsorge; Kinderbetreuung; Access; Bildung; Zugang; Bildungszugang; Quality of education; Bildungsqualität; Lehrerverhalten; Bildungsmittel; Politics of education; Bildungspolitik; Public school; Öffentliche Schule; Inklusion; Lehrerausbildung; Lehrerbildung; Schulnote; Studentische Bewertung; Bildungsstätte
Abstract	Background: The value of Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) is recognised as beneficial to the child and society. Research evidence on pre-primary ECCE access and quality in Sub-Saharan Africa is scarce. Aim: The aim of this article is to examine Botswana's pre-primary school programme in enhancing accessibility and quality of ECCE provision. Setting: The study was conducted in 12 of the 24 primary schools implementing the pre-primary programme in a Gaborone sub-region. Methods: Adaptations of the Levesque Access Framework and Woodhead Quality Framework were applied to this qualitative research study. Using semi-structured interviews, 11 pre-primary teachers, 5 school heads or Heads of Department, and 3 Principal Education Officers (PEO) were interviewed, and the data collected was analysed thematically. Results: The findings suggest that the main barriers to the effective pre-primary programme rollout are supply-side and systemic. These barriers represent the public institutional environment (e.g. funding, inter-governmental co-ordination), policy design (e.g. the physical infrastructure delivery model, administrative barriers, enrolment policy), and programme implementation (enrolment practices, teaching personnel, learning materials, and assessment of learners). Conclusion: Although over 600 public schools have implemented the pre-primary programme, meeting the objectives of universal access, equitability, inclusivity, and quality remains a challenge in Botswana, as in many other African countries. Contribution: The findings offer research frameworks and evidence for understanding pre-primary ECCE accessibility and quality. Further, the research has policy, programmatic, and practice-based implications for pre-primary educators and policymakers. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01